Glengoyne 36 Year Old 'The Russell Family Single' Cask No 1549

This is a single cask drawn from one of Scotland's slowest distillers, and it carries the name of the family who have owned Glengoyne for generations. Thirty-six years is an extraordinary length of time to leave spirit in wood, the sort of patience that only makes sense when the cask in question keeps proving itself year after year. Cask No 1549 is sherry oak, as you would expect from a distillery that built its reputation on it, and being a single cask it has not been blended or rounded out against anything else. What you taste is exactly what that one barrel became.

The colour is deep amber edging into copper. On the nose there are stewed apples and dried apricot first, then the older, waxier notes that only long maturation gives you: furniture polish, sandalwood, a little tobacco leaf. Antique rather than tired.

The palate is concentrated and quite dry for a sherried Glengoyne, the fruit now folded into oak rather than sitting on top of it. Toffee, ginger, dark marmalade and a savoury, almost nutty undertone. The texture has thinned a touch with age, which is honest for a whisky of this vintage, but the flavours are long and layered. The finish drifts through old oak, leather and a whisper of orchard fruit.

A rare bottling for someone who wants to taste what time alone can do.

How to Serve

Neat in a tulip glass, no ice. At this age, leave the water aside at first; if you add any, make it a single drop. Let it breathe for a quarter of an hour before you commit.

Where to Drink It

The Connaught Bar, Mayfair. Dukes Bar in St James's for an unhurried setting. Soho Whisky Club if you want to talk it over with people who care.

Food Pairings

Stands alone. If anything, a handful of toasted walnuts or a sliver of aged hard cheese, kept deliberately plain.