Glen Mhor 40 Years Old 1982 Cask #72 (Private Collection)

The Elgin house Gordon and MacPhail bottled this Glen Mhor, a 40 year old, distilled in 1982, from cask 72, bottled at 50.8%, one of 174 bottles. Glen Mhor was a Highland malt distillery, demolished to make way for a supermarket. It installed Saladin box maltings in 1954, malting its own barley on site.

This was distilled slow in the Inverness stillhouse, the worm tubs lending weight, the worm tubs lending a full, oily weight. An Oloroso hogshead lent raisin, fig and a savoury edge to the worm tub spirit. At a great, fragile age oxidation rules, sotolon lending maple and dried fig as beeswax and an oily richness linger. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, which is why it suits both bourbon and sherry. It passed to the Distillers Company in 1972 and was closed in 1983. Refill oak lets the full, oily Glen Mhor character lead the way. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. With Glen Mhor gone, every bottle draws on a finite, dwindling stock.

At 50.8%, undiluted, it is deep and waxy. Apple, beeswax and a soft oil, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dried fruit and a polished oak give it depth. The finish is deep, waxy and oily. This is a rich, waxy single malt from silent Inverness.