Glen Mhor 15 Years Old 1972 Fine Old Higland Malt (Sestante)

This Glen Mhor was bottled by the Italian bottler Sestante, a 15 year old, distilled in 1972, bottled at 40%. Glen Mhor, founded in 1892, was one of Inverness's three vanished distilleries. It condensed its spirit in worm tubs, the source of its full, oily body.

It was drawn off the stills into worm tubs for the full, oily Glen Mhor make, for a fruity, oily spirit with real body. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the gentle American oak letting the full spirit lead. Into oxidative maturity, slow air ingress builds fruity ethyl esters (apple and pear) and a waxy, oily depth. The slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the oily, waxy core over the decades. It was closed in the same cuts that took Glen Albyn, Brora and Banff. The worm tubs are the key to Glen Mhor's body, holding the heavier, oily notes in the spirit. The oily, waxy texture is a mark of well aged Glen Mhor. A 28 year old appeared in Diageo's Rare Malts collection, a glimpse of the lost distillery. Closed in 1983 and demolished in 1986, its profile is fixed for good.

Reduced to 40%, it is mellow. Dried fruit, wax and an oily weight, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Beneath it run apple, pear and a waxy oil. Apple, wax and a soft oak see out the finish. This is Glen Mhor's full, oily old Highland style.