Glenesk 20 Years Old 1984

Chosen by Gordon and MacPhail, the Elgin grocer laying down casks on South Street since 1895, this a 20 year old Glenesk, distilled in 1984, at 43%. Glenesk was a Highland single malt distilled at Montrose, in the valley of the Esk. It was rebuilt as a grain distillery from 1938, working a continuous Coffey still for over two decades. It was mothballed in 1985 and its licence cancelled in 1992, the buildings demolished by 1996.

The spirit was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, for a clean, lightly fruity spirit with a malty backbone. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin and a soft coconut under the malt. Into oxidative maturity, slow air builds tropical esters of mango and pineapple over a creamy depth. With the distillery long closed, these are casks that can never be filled again. Maturation ran slow and even in the old bonded warehouses on the coast at Montrose.

At 43% it is fruity, creamy and soft. A soft malty sweetness and a cereal note, lifted by a soft oak. The body is light and gently oily, the malt lifted by a soft oak. It finishes light, dry and malty. This is the quiet, malty malt of Montrose.