Glenburgie 9 Years Old 2011 (Svenska Eldvatten)

This Glenburgie was bottled by Svenska Eldvatten, a 9 year old, distilled in 2011, at 59.5%, one of 567 bottles. Glenburgie is a fragrant Speyside malt, a core flavour of Ballantine's for decades. It has belonged to Chivas Brothers, part of Pernod Ricard, since 2005. Its water is drawn from a local spring near the distillery. It was rebuilt in 1881 by Charles Chree Doig, the architect behind so many Speyside stillhouses. It was founded in 1810 as Kilnflat by William Paul, taking the Glenburgie name in 1878.

Distilled in tall onion shaped pot stills, shaping a fine, clean malt with a floral lift. It was matured in a Tawny Port cask, the wood working into the fruity malt. At an extractive age eugenol lends a clove note and lactones a coconut, the spirit light, fresh and fruity. A soft waxiness from the spirit carries a thread through the maturation. Years in oak deepen the spirit to old gold, the body growing rounder and waxier with time.

At 59.5%, undiluted, it is rich and waxy. Apple, pear and a soft honey, with a nutty, raisined red fruit from the cask. Pear, grass and a creamy oak fill the middle. A long, fruity finish carries a waxy honey. This is the fragrant blending malt of Alves.