Glen Albyn 1965; Connoisseurs Choice G&M / 40%/ 0.75l

Connoisseurs Choice from the Gordon & MacPhail portfolio is one of the oldest whisky series.

It debuted in the mid-1960s, when most Scottish malt distilleries produced for blenders, not even considering promoting their whiskies as single malts. Today, over half a century later, Connoisseurs Choice still competes successfully in the single malt market and has its devoted fans. The Glen Albyn presented here, distilled in 1965, was included in the series in our opinion in the late 1980s. Glen Albyn Distillery, based in Inverness, produced whisky from 1844 to 1983. The only official edition of the local single malt was the 1975 Vintage, 26 years old, included in the Rare Malts series in 2002.  

Nose: pronounced sherry notes, old leather sofa, wax, lemon and orange peel, hay, honeyed almonds, wet chalk and a distant whiff of smoke.

Palate : slightly waxy, dried plums, bitter orange jam, almonds, a touch of marzipan, lemongrass, pepper, notes of ginger and peat.

Finish : quite long, with notes of dried plums and cherries, a mixture of herbal spices and a quite intense oak bitterness.