Glenburgie 46 Years Old 1966 (G&M)

Gordon and MacPhail bottled this Glenburgie, a 46 year old, distilled in 1966, at 43%. Glenburgie is a fragrant Speyside malt, a core flavour of Ballantine's for decades. It sits near Alves in Moray, east of Forres, in the heart of Speyside. It was expanded to six stills after the rebuild, one of the bigger distilleries in the group.

It was distilled in tall onion shaped pot stills, for a soft, fruity spirit with a waxy thread. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, the oak gentle behind the spirit. At a great, fragile age oxidation rules, sotolon lending honey and dried fig as beeswax and a waxy note linger. Years in oak deepen the spirit to old gold, the body growing rounder and waxier with time. Built for the blender's art, the make ages with quiet grace as a single malt. First fill wood drives the maturation, the cask clear in the spirit. A soft waxiness from the spirit carries a thread through the maturation.

Reduced to 43%, it is mellow and fragrant. Baked apple, grass and a light honey, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Pear, grass and a creamy oak fill the middle. A fresh finish closes on apple and a soft oak. This is a fragrant Speyside single malt of real lightness.