La Maison Du Whisky Singapore celebrated its 16th year with three single cask bottlings. The oldest, and the only one at cask strength (52.1%), is this 1995 Glenburgie aged in a hogshead for 27 years before it yielded 198 bottles. I paid around $250 for it.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Sweet, mellow and tart: hawthorn roselle tea, dried cranberries, raisins, root beer float, white peach.

Palate: Smooth and viscous, no burn, pleasant fizzy sensation, hawthorn roselle tea again, fresh plums, prune juice, manuka honey, a tinge of chalky minerality like in some white wines.

Finish: Tapers off surprisingly quick but with a long tail. Pity because it is complex and appetising and just wanting for strength. Sarawak white pepper, spearmint, fig, lemon curd, peach slices in sugar syrup, a whiff of milk bread, hibiscus, before we finally get root beer and dried plums.

This dram grows on you gradually. It is deceptively simple but the complexity does not let up when you dig down further. The smoothness and texture on the palate is deeply enjoyable. There are a lot of red berries and tart, sweet florals, with which it bears a striking family resemblance to the 15yo Glenlivet first-fill sherry butt LMDW picked for Whisky Live Singapore. However it definitely leans a bit more on the mellow and tart side of things, than the bright earthy sweetness of the Glenlivet. The peaches, milk bread and fig are also very nice and welcome variations on the theme. It is priced quite aggressively for a 27yo Glenburgie from LMDW no less, but much of the age goes towards texture and smoothness than complexity and intensity of flavour in this case. The nose and finish are let down by the palate relatively speaking.

With much better smoothness, and better texture, very slightly more complexity on the nose and finish, compared to the Glenlivet, but also a very subdued palate and finish for the age and price point, I think it's fair to rate it 86, just edged out slightly by the Glenlivet. Which is disappointing as the Glenlivet was bottled at 46% and is almost half the price and age. Someone described this Glenburgie to me as "good, but not great" and I'm inclined to agree.

H.Y.