Glenburgie 26 Years Old 1996 Cask #5808

This Glenburgie comes from Gordon and MacPhail, the Elgin grocer laying down casks on South Street since 1895, a 26 year old, distilled in 1996, from cask 5808, at 55.9%, one of 140 bottles. Glenburgie is a fragrant Speyside malt, a core flavour of Ballantine's for decades. Its water is drawn from a local spring near the distillery. It has belonged to Chivas Brothers, part of Pernod Ricard, since 2005.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still, for a light body with a gentle, waxy edge. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the fruit. At this evaporative stage ellagitannins lend structure while oxidation builds a richer tropical fruit over a candle wax depth. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Built for the blender's art, the make ages with quiet grace as a single malt.

Bottled at a cask strength 55.9%, it is concentrated. A delicate, soft malt with a waxy edge, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The body is light and clean, the fruit lifted by a soft oak. It finishes light, fresh and faintly waxy. This is a fruity Speyside malt rarely seen on its own.