A Visit to Glengoyne and A Massive Tasting
Talk about your busy schedules! Together with two friends, I visited the Glengoyne Distillery all the way back in January, to shake hands with another good friend, Mr. Richard Brass. To us, he is a comrade affectionately known as “just” Richie. This is one passionate guy! We shared drams with him the night before, during a gathering of the Glasgow Whisky Club, where we found a lot more of the usual suspects. Friends we meet every January for a visit to Campbeltown, where the Springbank Stallions gather. Richie works at Glengoyne and manages the warehouses with great skill. On the day we visited Glengoyne, which is just a short drive from downtown Glasgow (it always surprises me just how short), he kindly showed us around. Under his guidance, we saw the warehouses that hold a lot of Glengoyne casks but also an abundance of wood filled with Rosebank lowland malt. Owner Ian McLeod runs the distilleries at Tamdhu, Glengoyne and Rosebank, and has also recently commissioned the Laggan Bay Distillery on Islay. This is becoming quite the company! I even understand they opened a distillery in India, named Una.
With Glengoyne famously located exactly on the Highland-Lowland divide, at least the Rosebank spirit matures in the lowlands. For who cares about such things. After seeing the big vats that hold the different new makes (Glengoyne and Rosebank), Richie passed us on to a dear colleague, who guided us through a tasting. Because it was still early morning, and we did not want to down the generously poured samples like it was tequila, we sipped gently and took most of the line-up home. This means I can fly you through it now, adding one whisky of my own: the current 10 years old, just for starters.
We will do this quickly and build this up by age. These whiskies were tasted in three separate sessions, to keep our palates fresh for such delights.
Glengoyne 10 years old, bottled at 40 % abv
Impressions: Matured in American and European oak. This is gentle and quite malty to nose, with hints of vanilla yoghurt and a touch of cardboard. Hints of pumpernickel bread and copper coins too, with a sliver of apricot. To sip, as easy as the nose promises. Glengoyne famously does not peat their production, and this core range bottling proves it. A beautiful, spirit driven whisky, with a nice barley finish. A tad dry, but satisfying as an everyday dram. It seems to me this leans heavily on the American oak, but there are some spices that can be traced back to the European oak content.
Score: 78 points.
Glengoyne 16 years old, Oak Masters’ Series, bottled at 53,4 % abv
Impressions: This matured for 10 years in sherry wood, and then received a 6 years “finish” in virgin Japanese Mizunara oak. Only 3195 bottles were released. This is rich on the nose, even though it seems a bit closed up at first. Lovely, candy-like smells, gummi bears and peaches, but not so in your face as other whisky can be. This is delicate and subdued. The sherry notes are very strong, on the nose and the palate, and the virgin oak puts a heavy stamp on the overall feel of this Glengoyne Mizunara, but it works well. A mixture between raisins and juicy oak flavour. Water brings out damp forest smells, but enlarges the oak footprint on the palate a bit too much. An interesting experiment!
Score: 86 points.
Glengoyne 17 years old – The Festive Cask 2025, bottled at 55,6 % abv
Impressions: Cask # 1608 was a PX hogshead filled in 2008 and bottled in December 2025. This one you could buy as a distillery exclusive cask. Absolutely festive indeed, but not so over the top as PX can sometimes be. This leaves room for the Glengoyne malt to breathe. Nice hints of clove, caramel, fudge and oranges, ready to make that mulled wine, even though we are quite some months early. Lovely raisin cake and hot spices. The taste is a touch too woody for my preference, but this lasts only a few moments, before beautiful dark chocolate takes over the conversation. With water, a more fruity note emerges, with strawberry and cherries, while the wood is now more in service of these flavours. For a single cask this is divinely balanced. Keeps developing in the glass, endlessly. For those travelling to a distillery, this is a “distillery only” you hope to find: recognisable but also unique.
Score: 88 points.
Glengoyne 21 years old (2025), bottled at 43 % abv
Impressions: Purely sherry wood matured. The abv might be a bit low for such a jewel of a whisky. Indeed, the nose suffers a bit from it, because it does not really shine. Still, lots to enjoy, starting with raisin filled dough, crumpets, vanilla and strawberry marmalade. Does it get more British, I hear you say, and I believe it does not! Some delicate wood, like a new floor you just put in. The palate is covered with a silky soft elegance, with an abundance of sultana flavours and Belgian chocolates. The finish brings a nice bitter note, made more complex with hints of hazelnut spread and nutmeg. The oaky tannins are well under control. I tease the liquid with just the slightest drop of water. More praline on the nose now, combined with the sensation of petrichor. The palate remains more or less the same. I wish I had some chocolate nearby to experience the coupling. This is just excellent. If it wasn’t for the lack of oomph on the finish, this would score even higher.
Score: 88 points.
Glengoyne 24 years old – White Oak, bottled at 47,8 % abv
Impressions: Bottled in 2024 and matured in first fill Bourbon and Virgin American Oak. Oh yeah, this is a nice mix between classical fruity notes from the bourbon wood, infused with an overdose of oak tannins from the virgin oak. It works very well and turns into a pleasant fruit salad full of watermelon, mango and pineapple. Some curry spices are also noticeable. On the palate, the story continues, with a rather prickly demeanor that turns into a spoonful of baby fruit compote from a jar. Really thirstquenching, water not needed. For anyone who thought Glengoyne has no reason to exist without sherry wood maturation, think again after tasting this one. This 24 years old White Oak carries the ghost of legendary 1972 vintages.
Score: 90 points.
Glengoyne 25 years old, bottled at 48 % abv
Impressions: Bottled in 2024. Matured in European Oak Ex-Sherry. The nose on this one is quite a culture shock after the cleaner White Oak. Some gunpowder and chocolate powder. Oriental influences, like curry chutney from Indonesia. The taste opens somewhat bitter but carries a good backbone. Towards the finish, the sherry character we love so much emerges, full of raisins and even some rum notes.The body seems too fragile to me to even think of adding water, but the delicate balance it has achieved as it is, is okay. The finish is impressively long, which gains it an extra point.
Score: 88 points.
Glengoyne 30 years old, bottled at 46,8 % abv
Impressions: Bottled in 2024. Matured in Sherry casks, a batch of 5200 bottles. Is this going to be the crown on this session, or will the 24 years old White Oak grab victory? Certainly no gunpowder notes in this one, it has moved past that, offering dark chocolate and furniture wax. Underneath these layers I find orange zest and herbs. Feels mellow, the result of 30 years of sleep in wood. On the palate is where this Glengoyne 30 years old shows the real strength, with an abundance of dark chocolate and soft praline, gentle red fruit like strawberry and raspberry. This is nothing short of brilliant, easily reaching the 90-points mark. Let’s see if it can push past it. Indeed, with a little drop from the pipet, it releases even more red fruit, not only on the palate, but also on the nose. Such a scrumptious Glengoyne, the whole palate covered in sticky toffee pudding tastes, with some caramel on top, chewy to feel. This is a kingly single malt, and indeed as it turns out, the winner of this line-up. Cheers!
Score: 91 points.