Glenkinchie: barley testament of a bygone era
When I acquire bottles of whisky, and I also want to open them, it is my habit to post them in my regular network for shares. I rarely drink a whole bottle on my own, because that is just too much. The Glenkinchie I will be tasting today, followed this described path. One of the people who gladly bought a share from me, added an interesting comment: “Glenkinchie is an underappreciated spirit that is not allowed to shine by its owner [Diageo].” My initial reaction to that was that I agreed with that sentiment. When I started digging into official releases in recent years, this seems more substantiated. Glenkinchie fans have not exactly been spoiled. There was however a special release 27 years old a few years ago, and also a bottling in the Four Corners of Scotland series, that also included Caol Ila, Clynelish and Cardhu.
Glenkinchie has not featured on this blog yet, but the debut today will be a special one. We found an expression that was bottled in the 1980s, but before Glenkinchie was officially elevated to the status of being one of the six Classic Malts. Nerds now speak aloud the other six distilleries in this famous range, like a Pavlov reaction. Am I right? Let’s see how Glenkinchie distilled in the 1970s taste after some 40 years of bottle ageing.
Glenkinchie 10 years old, bottled at 43 % abv
First things first: A 75 cl glass bottle that reads underneath Clyde Forth Packaging. “Matured to perfection in seasoned oak wood.” Estimated bottling date around 1985, golden 10 on the label.
Upon Sipping: That is a different malt compared to the current day product, that I last tasted late December 2024. This is vibrant and lively, with lots of red fruit infused into the aroma. Some OBE too, but this seems to lift fruity notes to a higher plan. After some breathing, the fruit makes way for the more traditional lowland notes. Canola, warm malt, syrup on a pancake, but then whiffs of raspberry again. Quite complex for this humble lowland that kept Rosebank out of the Classic Malts range. There is no indication on the label or whatsoever, but some excellent sherry casks may have been part of this expression’s makeup. Just a few, tweaking just enough to create something special. The taste is beautifully creamy and malty soft, with lots of breaded notes and a subtle hint of lemon. On repeated sips more vanilla, but also a ghostly infusion of smoke of which I can not really pinpoint the origins.
This Glenkinchie is happy to catch a breath of fresh air again after being in the bottle for around 40 years. It keeps developing in the glass. I am absolutely charmed, but mostly because the style of this lowland malt has all but disappeared. I am reminded of a scene as a boy on a sleepover at my grandma. She would cream her hands when we all went to sleep, and when she would come in the room to wish us a final goodnight, she would smell like strawberry butter. Probably a hand crème or something. This Glenkinchie invokes that memory. In between everything, there is always this warm whiffs of grain, fields of golden barley, standing in the sun. A beautiful vision.
Word to the Wise: Of course, this is no high flying whisky, but time in the bottle and the old style of a bygone era of whisky distilling makes for an interesting time capsule. The label honours barley in a significant way, and the Glenkinchie malt whisky delivers on this promise. A very pure product, close to the core ingredients. This was a very satisfying experience, I must say.
Score: 84 points.