Glen Elgin Distillery, Scotland     founded: 1898 | active
For more detailed mapping of the distilleries in the area from our whisky map page, use this link.

A fruit salad bonanza in the paddling pool (lack of depth and plasticy) with Captain Jack Sparrow (what more could you want?), and a suspicious whiff of jif - the murderer has obviously been covering their tracks. Old seaweed on the beach, freshly tanned leather, freshly cut wet grass and tree sap combine with muscovado sugar to balance out the glue and egginess (slightly eggy crème brûlée / bit too eggy custard) but leave us no wiser as to the Cluedo-esque hitman. It was described as ‘partyish’ and a transvestite story (you never know what you’re going to get), as well as artificial and like a cleaned-out fish tank. Similar themes came out with a Trangia stove and new plastic. Fresh black grapes and a nectarine with a texture of a banana put an end to an interesting mix of aromas.

Yikes, well now the party's started - it's a full-mooner, and there's a raging inferno of wasp stings, curry leaves, beef sherbet, Kendal mint cake and jalapeno poppers. And just in case you weren't convinced of its strength, someone invited a drunk and angry gorilla and he's punching you in the face. Fortunately for us, there is a (slightly) more welcoming side too, of dessert wine, maple syrup, walnuts, blood orange pith, flambéed bananas and shit-loads of stewed raisins. Disappointing, like a regrettable one night stand, or a hottie with no chat. Spent matches, water from an iron, ester alcohol, turpentine and “definitely not South African� (this started a long ‘discussion’) made things sound pretty esoteric, then TCP came in to bridge the gap towards a confirmed fieriness. Treacle finally waltzed in to say hi, forlornly looking for flambéed bananas. A couple of people agreed that you "can't taste shit before you add water".

The fire burnt on for a long time, as long as Mika Hakkinen would survive if he were driving at Hockenheim, but not as long as a full-moon party should be. Like a 3 piece sweet - elements of chocolate, blueberry jam and simmering candles - but also burnt plastic, cocktail sausages and hock. Some had hoped for longer, but on average and in simple parlance, let’s call this ‘medium-long’.

Packaging:   The green box would say "hello, come and look at me" - doesn't look like a 22yo, takes years off it – more like 18 - seductive "I’m young, hello" - bottle on own not special but is in the box (one felt the opposite). (We felt this was important to note down at the time..)

~£70 (70cl)

WhiskyBase: Glen Elgin 1991 CA   |   http://www.whiskybase.com/whisky/45795/glen-e

We've always scored out of 10 in our group (see number in red box, below), with scores regularly given across that spectrum. The value out of 100 below is adjusted to the scale most commonly used for whisky reviews, to allow for better comparison.

73 / 100