Glendullan 12 Years Old 2009

This Glendullan comes from Gordon and MacPhail, the Elgin grocer laying down casks on South Street since 1895, a 12 year old, distilled in 2009, at 45%, one of 3245 bottles. Glendullan is a Speyside single malt, long a blending malt and now a name in its own right. The founding firm merged into Macdonald Greenlees and was absorbed by DCL in 1926, a forerunner of Diageo.

It was drawn from a long fermentation, shaping a green, malty Speyside character. It was matured in ex-Bourbon oak and given a further cask finish, the second wood over a soft vanilla. In integration coconut and vanilla knit with the malt, the pear softening towards a creamy honey. Maturation runs slow and even in the warehouses at Dufftown. Years in oak deepen the spirit to gold, the body growing rounder with time. A light, clean texture from the spirit carries through the maturation.

Bottled at 45%, it is light and creamy. A clean, grassy sweetness with a floral lift, lifted by a soft oak. A light orchard fruit and a soft spice give it shape. The close is light and clean, fruit over a gentle oak. This is a light, grassy Speyside single malt.