Latest news

Glenglassaugh releases 50-year-old whisky

by

Speyside’s Glenglassaugh distillery has released a new collection of vintage single cask bottlings, including a 50-year-old single malt for £4,500.

Glenglassaugh's rare cask
Rare Casks: The Glenglassaugh vintages range from 1965 to 1986

The third batch in the distillery’s rare cask series features eight expressions, all distilled between 1965 and 1986, before Glenglassaugh was mothballed.

The 50-year-old malt was matured in a refill hogshead, bottled at 40.1% abv, and is described as having notes of ‘caramelised autumn fruits, hints of peach and mellow citrus’.

The range also includes a 47-year-old Glenglassaugh matured in a Pedro Ximénez puncheon for £3,300 per bottle, described as having notes of ‘dates and blackcurrants, dark chocolate fondant and fresh black peppercorns’.

Also available is a 30-year-old bottling from 1986, matured in a PX puncheon, for £310.

The eight bottles in the series are worth a collective £19,410.

Rachel Barrie, Glenglassaugh master blender, said: ‘The eight casks bottled as Glenglassaugh’s rare casks Batch 3 are perfect illustrations of the distillery prior to mothballing in 1986.

‘Aged in oak for between 30 and 50 years, each cask in the series has a unique profile shaped by decades of maturation in our coastal warehouses.’

The eight single cask bottlings are:

Glenglassaugh 1965, 50 Years Old, Cask #3510 (hogshead), 40.1% abv, £4,500
Glenglassaugh 1967, 49 Years Old, Cask #1114-1 (hogshead), 42.7% abv, £4,050
Glenglassaugh 1968, 47 Years Old, Cask #2230 (Pedro Ximénez Sherry puncheon), 46.1% abv, £3,300
Glenglassaugh 1972, 44 Years Old, Cask #1721 (Massandra Sherry), 42.4% abv, £2,400
Glenglassaugh 1973, 42 Years Old, Cask #5638, Bourbon barrel, 40.6% abv, £1,950
Glenglassaugh 1975, 41 Years Old, Cask #1277-1 (Sauternes hogshead), 50.5% abv, £1,750
Glenglassaugh 1978, 38 Years Old, Cask #2343 (Pedro Ximénez Sherry puncheon), 42.5% abv, £1,150
Glenglassaugh 1986, 30 Years Old, Cask #1393 (Pedro Ximénez Sherry puncheon), 42.6% abv, £310

All eight bottlings are available from specialist retailers globally.

During the mid-20th century, the distillery, situated near Portsoy, produced a style of single malt whisky that blenders found awkward to work with.

When a period of oversupply forced the closure of many distilleries during the 1980s, Glenglassaugh fell victim and was mothballed. However, it was reopened in 2008 by a Russian-financed firm and is now operated by Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman.

Scroll To Top