It’s always nice to have a dram from a distillery you haven’t tasted before. This will be my first Glenugie. It used to be the easternmost distillery in Scotland, founded in 1831 but closed and dismantled during the whisky crisis of 1983. There are no official bottlings and independent ones are scarce.

Glenugie 27yo 1982
(50%, Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask 2009, DL ref. 5040, 216 btl.)

Nose: starts on vanilla and flowers. Quite a sweet but fresh nose, reminds me of a good (flowery) moscatel wine. Hints of bergamot and pollen. Developing on fruit candy. Pineapple, orange marmalade, peach. Caramelized apples. Pears on syrup. Slightly waxy as well. What can I say: wow! Mouth: here we go again… all sorts of fruits or fruit liqueurs, candy sugar, hints of cake and marmalade. Vanilla. Marzipan. The oakiness is well controlled for the age. More herbal notes towards the end. Finish: very creamy, soft vanilla. Medium length.

Glenugie is often ignored and getting difficult to find, but I think this one is a hidden gem. The previous cask of Glenugie in the Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask series was quite popular, and I can see why. TWE has an interesting price (£ 100) whereas the rest of Europe seems to charge around € 140. Don’t say I didn’t warn you about this one!

Score: 92/100