Glendullan 14 Years Old 2004 Cask #308792

Gordon and MacPhail, the Elgin grocer laying down casks on South Street since 1895, bottled this Glendullan, distilled in 2004, from cask 308792, at 57.5%, one of 198 bottles. Glendullan is a Speyside single malt, long a blending malt and now a name in its own right. Within a few years it was supplied to King Edward VII by royal request, from 1902. Its founder also struck an exclusive supply deal with neighbouring Glenfiddich.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still, building a clean malt of orchard fruit and a grassy edge. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the fruit. By the integrating teens the raw notes fade and esters build, the fruity spirit growing rounder and creamier. A light, clean texture from the spirit carries through the maturation. Maturation runs slow and even in the warehouses at Dufftown. Years in oak deepen the spirit to gold, the body growing rounder with time.

At 57.5%, undiluted, it is rich and fruity. A clean, grassy sweetness with a floral lift, lifted by a soft oak. Soft pear and a light vanilla sit behind the cask. The finish runs fresh, grassy and clean. This is a clean, fruity Speyside single malt.