Glendullan 28 Years Old 1981 (The Whisky Agency)

A Glendullan of a 28 year old chosen by the Whisky Agency, distilled in 1981, at 49.6%, one of 247 bottles. Glendullan is a Speyside single malt, bottled by Diageo as the Singleton of Glendullan for the American market. The founding firm merged into Macdonald Greenlees and was absorbed by DCL in 1926, a forerunner of Diageo.

It was distilled from unpeated malt, for a fresh, fruity spirit with a light body. A bourbon barrel held it, the wood adding a soft honey over the orchard fruit. Through the evaporative decades the esters fold into mango, beeswax and a creamy honey. Years in oak deepen the spirit to gold, the body growing rounder with time. First fill wood drives the maturation, the cask clear in the light spirit. Active wood frames the fruit without ever crowding the light Speyside spirit. Maturation runs slow and even in the warehouses at Dufftown.

At its natural 49.6% it is full and fruity. A fresh, fruity malt with a green edge, lifted by a soft oak. A green apple and a gentle citrus lift the middle. The close is light and clean, fruit over a gentle oak. This is a light, grassy Speyside single malt.