Glen Mhor 15 Years Old Rare Old Highland Malt (G&M)

From the Elgin house Gordon and MacPhail, a 15 year old Glen Mhor, bottled at 40%. Glen Mhor was a Highland malt distillery, demolished to make way for a supermarket. Its water came from Loch Ness, drawn down the River Ness to the distillery.

Drawn off the stills into worm tubs for the full, oily Glen Mhor make, for the full, oily make Glen Mhor was known for. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanilla and a light sweetness under the fruit. At oxidative maturity aldehydes lend a nutty edge while ellagitannins add a drying, structured grip over the oily malt. The worm tubs gave a full, oily spirit, less copper contact leaving real weight in the make. Years in oak round the spirit, the orchard fruit deepening to dried fruit and beeswax. A 28 year old appeared in Diageo's Rare Malts collection, a glimpse of the lost distillery. The writer Neil Gunn, an Inverness exciseman, famously praised Glen Mhor above all. No new spirit will follow it, the Inverness stills cold since 1983.

At 40% it is full and waxy. A full, oily orchard fruit, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Soft orchard fruit and a waxy oil sit behind the cask. The finish is long, oily and waxy. This is a finite single malt from the lost Glen Mhor distillery.