Glenugie 1977

Enjoying the tropical fruit of an old Glenugie

In my early days of this whisky hobby, everywhere I went a little black book would accompany me for taking notes about the whiskies I would taste. In one of these books, I found tasting notes for a tasting that was done at Lindores Whisky Fest in the Belgian seaside city of Oostende. Three Samaroli bottled whiskies on the table, and one of them was the Glenugie 1966. My notes were mercifully short, probably enjoying too much to write a lot, but the score was 93 points so it must have been good. Glenugie is one of these rare distilleries that has a whiff of sea profile in it, but even more so: a fruity character. The location in Peterhead, north of Aberdeen on the same shoreline, is even today still rather devoid of whisky distilling activities. Approaching its proximity is actually Balmaud Distillery, but if you have to scratch your head about this name, you are not alone. I only recently learned about this new operation via the latest edition of the Malt Whisky Yearbook.

Glenugie was one of those distilleries closed in the economic turmoil of the 1980s. It was never a big name but that made the secret quality of it all the more alluring. Fruity expressions can easily rival the best output from big names and vintages like Tomatin and Benriach 1976, late 1960s Bowmore and long aged Clynelish. A treasure that was lost, therefor, if it was not for fans around the world keeping the name alive. One of them was this great guy named Bob, who I knew from the same whisky club we were members of: the Usquebaugh Society in The Netherlands. Bob kept a website going for his personal collection and also brought together some facts about the Glenugie Distillery. Recommended to pay it a visit if you like these historic facts. In the meantime, I happened to stumble upon a sample a few months ago. Time to have a taste!

Glenugie 1977, 27 years old, bottled at 46,7 % abv by Signatory Vintage

First things first: This Glenugie matured in bourbon cask #5506 after being distilled on 18 October 1977. Exactly 220 bottles were filled on 30 August 2005. Quite some time ago, actually, look at that Whiskybase number. This is an oldie! Bottled in the SV Cask Strength Collection.

Upon Sipping: Glenugie is one of those malts that is known for being überfruity. Can’t for the life of me remember when I last tasted a sample from this lost distillery. It is a pleasure, almost nostalgic, to sniff it again. This 1977 starts out rather deep in vanilla territory, but once you get past that, you are knee-deep in the tropical department. Mango, papaya, sandalwood, and beautiful light smoke. The taste is mostly soft and thoroughly vanilla forward. It is on the finish where you get all the aforementioned fruits, and that is just delicious. If one could only make such a style earlier in the maturation process and not have it appear after 25+ years, that would be something. You get a feeling you upped your dose of vitamin C after sipping this Glenugie. Avoid water at all cost for this expression; it does not swim.

Word to the Wise: It offers the fruit that Glenugie is known for, but this is a far cry from the complex and exuberant samples that I also tasted. Still, it’s always a pleasure to taste something from a now silent still, especially this one.

Score: 86 points.