Glen Mhor 31 Years Old 1980 Rare Vintage (G&M)

From the Elgin house Gordon and MacPhail, a 31 year old Glen Mhor, distilled in 1980, bottled at 43%. Glen Mhor ran on Loch Ness water in Inverness for over ninety years before closing in 1983. It installed Saladin box maltings in 1954, malting its own barley on site.

Distilled slow in the Inverness stillhouse, the worm tubs lending weight, for the full, oily make Glen Mhor was known for. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut over the rich body. At a great, fragile age oxidation rules, sotolon lending maple and dried fig as beeswax and an oily richness linger. Years in oak round the spirit, the orchard fruit deepening to dried fruit and beeswax. The slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the oily, waxy core over the decades. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. Refill oak lets the full, oily Glen Mhor character lead the way. Closed in 1983 and demolished in 1986, its profile is fixed for good.

At 43% it is rich, oily and fruity. A waxy, full bodied sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Pear, beeswax and a rich oil fill the middle. Apple, wax and a soft oak see out the finish. This is a full, oily Highland single malt of real age.