Glenburgie 22 Years Old 1998 Cask #900902 (Elixir)

Elixir Distillers bottled this Glenburgie, a 22 year old, distilled in 1998, from cask 900902, at 54.5%, one of 271 bottles. Glenburgie is a Speyside single malt, a blending malt rarely seen on its own and largely the work of independents. Its make has long fed big blends like Old Smuggler down the decades.

It was distilled in tall onion shaped pot stills, for the light, fruity make the Ballantine's blenders prized. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin and a soft coconut under the malt. Through the evaporative decades the esters fold into mango, beeswax and a waxy honey. A soft waxiness from the spirit carries a thread through the maturation. Maturation runs slow and even in the cool Speyside warehouses. Years in oak deepen the spirit to old gold, the body growing rounder and waxier with time. First fill wood drives the maturation, the cask clear in the spirit.

At its natural 54.5% it is full and fruity. A delicate, soft malt with a waxy edge, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The body is light and clean, the fruit lifted by a soft oak. It finishes light, fresh and faintly waxy. This is a fresh, fruity Speyside single malt.