Product description
Glenesk Distillery, based in the Eastern Highlands, began operation in 1897.
It has used five names throughout its history – Highland Esk, North Esk, Montrose, Hillside and Glenesk – and has also produced alternating malt and grain whiskies. In 1954, operating as Montrose Distillery, it became part of the DCL group, which renamed it Hillside 10 years later. The Hillside name survived until 1980, when it was replaced by Glenesk. Despite these efforts, the distillery was closed in 1985 and is now occupied by a malt house. The plant's heyday came in the 1960s, when it was managed by Wm Sanderson & Son, a subsidiary of DCL, and its whisky was the backbone of the VAT 69 blend formula. The whisky presented here, distilled in February 1981, spent 26 years in a sherry cask # B933, and was bottled in the Rare Auld series in December 2007 in an edition of 240 bottles.
Nose: classic sherry cask, raisins, dried plums, black cherries, honey, caramel, cocoa powder, hazelnuts, nutmeg, dried mushrooms, forest floor, cigar and oak.
Palate : strong sherry notes, roasted nuts and almonds, dark chocolate, espresso, raisins, prunes, blood oranges, black pepper, dried herbs, tobacco and oak.
Finish : long, with notes of sherry, roasted nuts and almonds, black pepper, dark chocolate, orange peel, tobacco and oak.