Glenesk 17 Years Old 1982

Chosen by Cadenhead, Scotland's oldest independent bottler, Aberdeen born in 1842 and now in Campbeltown, this a 17 year old Glenesk, distilled in 1982, at 46%, one of 186 bottles. Glenesk was a Highland single malt, most of it long destined for the blending vats. Its water was drawn from the river by the Angus coast at Montrose. Much of its make went to blends, above all William Sanderson's Vat 69.

It was distilled from unpeated malt, for a light, honeyed make with a cereal edge. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the American oak lending vanilla and a light honey. Through oxidative maturity the esters concentrate, the orchard fruit turning to mango, pineapple and a waxy honey. Years in oak deepened the spirit to gold, the body growing rounder with time. First fill wood drove the maturation, the cask clear in the light spirit. Maturation ran slow and even in the old bonded warehouses on the coast at Montrose.

Bottled at 46%, it is light and creamy. Pear, barley and a soft oak, lifted by a soft oak. The body is light and gently oily, the malt lifted by a soft oak. A gentle finish closes on honey and a soft oak. This is a collector's Highland single malt.