Glenglassaugh Peated Virgin Oak Finish

The stills of the Glenglassaugh distillery fell silent in November of 1986. Following the closure, a handful of official bottlings have been released. In 2008, the Dutch-based Scaent Group acquired the distillery for £5 million and reopened it in November of that year. The Glenglassaugh distillery sits on a hillside in the Glassaugh Glen in close proximity to the sea.

The distillery was founded in 1875 by the Glenglassaugh Distillery Company and the build cost £10,000. In 1887, refurbishments were carried out on the site, under the control of Alexander Morrison; stills were installed and equipment was modernized. Five years later, former customers Robertson and Baxter acquired the distillery and promptly resold it to the Highland Distilleries Company for £15,000. Between 1908 and 1960 the Glenglassaugh whisky distillery was only in operation very briefly, for it closed and reopened frequently.

Just before reopening in 1960, an extensive rebuild was carried out and two new stills were installed; these were significantly larger than the previous stills and consequently doubled the total annual capacity to one million litres. During this time the onsite maltings were shut down and from then on Tamdhu Distillery provided the malt. Over the years Glenglassaugh whisky has been a constituent of many blends including the popular Famous Grouse and the American favourite, Cutty Sark. Today there are a few official house bottlings and a handful of independent releases.

In late 2017, Glenglassaugh kicked off their Wood Finishes series with a quartet of cask-finished expressions - the first cask-finished whiskies ever released by the distillery! The sweet earthiness of the coastal peated spirit is brought to life in the Peated Virgin Oak Wood Finish. During finishing in American Virgin Oak casks, Glenglassaugh is shaped by intense notes of candy and fresh spice, as if a sweet shop by the beach, spiced by land and sea. Bottled at 46% with natural colour and is non chill filtered.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Toasted oak with a crack of black pepper, peanut brittle and honeycomb.

Palate: New leather, caramelised apricots, a hint of sweetly smoked cheese.

Finish: BBQ'd fruit and earthy vanilla pod.