Glenburgie 32 Years Old 1988 Cask #1083

Chosen by Gordon and MacPhail, the Elgin grocer laying down casks on South Street since 1895, this a 32 year old Glenburgie, distilled in 1988, from cask 1083, at 53.8%, one of 134 bottles. Glenburgie is a Speyside single malt, a blending malt rarely seen on its own and largely the work of independents. It has been a core malt of the Ballantine's blend since Hiram Walker bought it in 1936.

It was distilled from unpeated malt, for a light body with a gentle, waxy edge. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending a creamy vanilla. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a honeyed, waxy delicacy of tropical fruit and old oak. The spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out a soft beeswax. First fill wood drives the maturation, the cask clear in the spirit. Years in oak deepen the spirit to old gold, the body growing rounder and waxier with time.

Bottled at a cask strength 53.8%, 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. A fresh finish closes on apple and a soft oak. This is a light, fruity Speyside single malt.