Tucked away in the Scottish Highlands, Glenglassaugh has been consistently releasing an award-winning range of whiskies and has just added one of its rarest and oldest expressions to the collection; 264 bottles of the Glenglassaugh 50-Year-Old.
Established in 1875, Glenglassaugh Distillery was mothballed for over 20 years before reopening in 2008. It has some old single malt stock sitting around, and it was from this the distillery team recently picked a single 50-year-old PX sherry cask for its newest offering. According to those behind it, the new Glenglassaugh 50 Year Old aged for over half a century in a single Pedro Ximénez sherry cask from Andalucía in Spain. It was recently selected by the distillery’s master blender, Rachel Barrie, for bottling and presents itself at 40.1% ABV and of natural cask colour.
“A lot can happen in half a century, and this whisky has seen many important milestones whilst maturing in our warehouses,” said Barrie in a prepared statement. “From the distillery being lost then revived 13 years ago to the release of its first core range celebrating its youthful spirit.
Inspired by the coastal location of Glenglassaugh’s warehouses, the whisky has spent half a century maturing over in a Pedro Ximénez Andalusian sherry cask overlooking Sandend Bay, resulting in an expression that combines the distillery’s traditional Highland Single Malt with undertones of exotic fruit and elements of the North Sea air. It perfectly encapsulates Glenglassaugh’s coastal origins and philosophy and has already been awarded the highest accolade possible at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the double gold.
On the nose are complex layers such as frangipane, salted honeycomb and ocean spice, to name a few. Its tasting notes are seductive and complex, moving smoothly between exotic fruits such as papaya, mango, and cherry, with oak and plum adding a sophisticated finish combined with pear and almond.
Of the release, Barrie says, “Offering a deep and seductive sweetness, the 50 Year Old’s flavour profile ranges from caramelised pear to soft exotic cherries; almond and refined oak beautifully intertwine to present a symphony of tropical notes on a gentle ocean breeze with rolling waves of flavour, which intensify and evolve with each sip. It’s a privilege to unveil this premium bottling to whisky fans around the world at the beginning of a new chapter for Glenglassaugh celebrating both old and new.”
This single malt is available in a limited edition capacity, with just 264 bottles being sold in Europe and Asia. Each bottle is housed in a bespoke presentation box designed to display the bottle and the liquid’s rich tones, with the package as a whole costing £5,500, or around $10,100 AUD.