Glenugie are one of those whiskies that have increased massively in price due to a few good bottlings and the simple fact that there's very little left of it. It was first used as a distillery/brewery back in the 1830's, but rebuilt by Scottish Highland Distillers Co Ltd. in 1875 for malt whisky distillation only. Glenugie is another distillery that seems to have been closed for most of its lifetime, and in the 1960's the distillery, was modernized to increase production capacity, but the distillery was closed just two decades later, in 1983. Sadly this whisky is both too rare and expensive nowadays to be worth sourcing for most people, and I have only one unopened full bottle in my cabinet. In older bottlings of Long John there used to a fair portion of Glenugie, and that sure is a more affordable way to get a taste of something containing Glenugie. But I've sourced these five Glenugies I'm about to try now online, mind you, samples are not cheaper than full bottles if you compare the amount of whisky you get, but for a tasting of one single distillery its sure a great way to get a wider range of bottlings. But back to Glenugie. Situated in the eastern highlands north of Aberdeen I think the surrounding distilleries would be Lochside, Glen Garioch, Fettercairn and some other now closed ones maybe. Part of the site is now derelict and will most likely never be used for distilling purposes again. Other parts have been turned into business sites.
Glenugie 28yo 1966-1994 40% Connoisseurs Choice Gordon & Macphail
We have many things to thank G&M for, and bottling a number of closed distilleries in the early to mid-90's is one of them. If this whisky was released today I have no idea what it'd cost, but I'm sure it'd be in some exclusive range and I'd at least have to sell my car to afford a bottle. The color is amber orange. It smells of creamy notes, coffee liqueurs, almonds, marzipan, buttery, gingerbread, star anise, cloves, superb mouth-watering start. The taste is raw, malty, spirity, even at this age and strength? Yes! I'll better drop in some water straight away. Now it turns sweet, creamy, nutty, malty, still a bit harsh and spirity, but all in all an unbalanced dram that swifts from young and spirity to over-oaked and back all in just one sip.
A strange one, let's hope the next experiences will be more pleasant: 3
Glenugie 27yo 1977-2005 46.8% Celtic Heartlands Jim McEwan
As well as Murray McDavid, Celtic Heartlands also seized to be produced when Bruichladdich was sold last year. Sad things. As you can see there's quite a low abv on some of these Glenugies, that's part due to being matured in Bourbon casks. I don't think I've ever seen a sherry matured Glenugie, but some older bottlings have been finished in sherry casks, and one of those will be up later in this session. The color is golden. It smells of vanilla, oaky, chalk, concrete dust, building sites, drying, peppery, chopped onions, mustard. The taste is sweet, chalky, wheat, rye, sawdust, mushrooms, sour agave and grapefruit. Time to add some water. Now it turns much lighter, vanilla, stewed onions, ginger, vegetable broth. It struggles a bit with the low strength, it just doesn't seem as vibrant as you'd expect a 27yo highlander from bourbon wood to be. But its no off-notes or anything like that here. Pure and simple whisky.
old style highland whisky, a bit like a young Ben Nevis: 4
Glenugie 29yo 1977-2006 49.6% Part des Anges Closed Distilleries cask#360
Quite some 1977 vintages in this session. A good year at Glenugie? The color is golden amber. It smells of musty peppery notes, mustard, green peppers, bullet chili, pickled jalapenos, buttery, chives, coleslaw, acidic, white wine vinegar, pickled vegetables all over the place. The taste is bitter, grassy, bell peppers, bullet chillies, I've not experienced this kinda warm temper in highlander before. Time to add some water. Now it turns sweeter, bourbon notes, vanilla, oranges, thyme, rich heathery, honey, banana chips, a lot better with water. The finish is long, peppery, dry licorice, this is one that'll grow on you with time and water, nice one.
Try this to see Glenugies potential blossom in a glass: 7
Glenugie 33yo 1977-2010 55.48% Chivas Brothers Deoch an Doras
Chivas Brothers started their own IB series called "Deoch an Doras" some years ago, and they are extra keen on delivering as much information as possible about the whisky it seems, having added a second decimal to the abv. number. So now you know more precisely how much alcohol you're consuming(!). But who know how many great casks have gone into blends through the years, lets hope Chivas Brothers sells the best as single malt. The color on this one is bronze. Very dark one. It smells of dark coffee, dark chocolate, cocoa, cinnamon, pineapples, black pepper, gunpowder, rubbery, this must be a sherry casked one, or finished in an extremely active sherry cask. Great start. The taste is sweet, caramel, dark chocolate, peppery, leather, chillies, orange zest, cinnamon, waxy, just a bit rubbery and spirity, so let's add water. Just the tiniest drop of water here. Now it turns even sweeter, more cinnamon, red bell peppers, dried paprika, oranges and well, all of the things I found when it was neat. The finish is peppery, rubbery, glue, longlasting.
Great Glenugie, a complex sherried one: 9
Glenugie 33yo 1977-2011 57.2% Signatory Vintage cask#2
This one was double matured so in reality its not a single cask. I know Signatory put out two casks which were transfereed to sherry oak for period of time prior to bottling and referred to them as cask#1 and #2. This one was finished for 100 months in a sherry cask, which makes for little over 8 years if I'm correct. Also worth mentioning is that the sherry casks were ex oloroso. The color is golden bronze/amber, much lighter than the DaD. It smells of very peppery dry notes, unripe sour berries, sweet tea, fruit gums, vanilla, cinnamon, leather, quite nice, opens up with time. I've now given it 25 minutes of breathing. The taste is sweet, molasses, dark rum, peppery, vanilla, spicy, once again a little too spirity for my liking. Time to add a very small drop of water. Now it turns sweeter, some low strength red wine, pulp, cream oloroso sherry, vanilla, raspberries, strawberries, milk chocolate, tapioca, whipped cream. The finish is peppery, burnt, tannic, not very pleasant, but the finish is more often than not the problem with these double casked whiskies.
Another very nice Glenugie, with big sherry character despite only being finished in sherry oak: 8
Glenugie then
Glenugie now
Next distillery: Glenury Royal Distillery
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