Glen Mhor 27 Years Old 1982 Cask #DL 6216 (Douglas Laing)

This Glen Mhor was bottled by the Glasgow bottler Douglas Laing, a 27 year old, distilled in 1982, from cask DL 6216, bottled at 50%, one of 239 bottles. Glen Mhor was one of three Inverness distilleries, alongside Glen Albyn and Millburn, all now gone. The writer Neil Gunn, an Inverness exciseman, famously praised Glen Mhor above all.

The spirit was drawn off the stills into worm tubs for the full, oily Glen Mhor make, for a fruity, oily spirit with real body. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood adding a light vanilla over the oily body. At this evaporative stage ellagitannins lend a drying structure while oxidation builds a richer, oily fruit. 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. A slow maturation suits the full, oily make, the fruit turning waxy with time. No more will ever be made, the distillery silent since 1983.

Bottled at a cask strength 50%, it is rich. Apple, beeswax and a soft oil, 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 Glen Mhor, the malt Neil Gunn prized above all.