Glenburgie 12 Years Old 2007 Cask #900078 (Signatory)

This Glenburgie was bottled by Signatory Vintage, a 12 year old, distilled in 2007, from cask 900078, at 64.4%, bottled for a whisky festival. Glenburgie is a Speyside single malt from near Alves, founded in 1810 as Kilnflat. It was rebuilt in 1881 by Charles Chree Doig, the architect behind so many Speyside stillhouses. Its make has long fed big blends like Old Smuggler down the decades.

The spirit was distilled from unpeated malt, building a light malt of orchard fruit and fresh grass. It was finished in an Oloroso cask, the wood building on the light, fruity spirit. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin rounding out as esters lend a riper apple, pear and a soft honey. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Years in oak deepen the spirit to old gold, the body growing rounder and waxier with time.

Bottled at a cask strength 64.4%, it is concentrated. Pear, floral notes and a soft, waxy sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The body is light and clean, the fruit lifted by a soft oak. The finish is rounded, fruity and clean. This is a fruity Speyside malt rarely seen on its own.