Glenburgie SMWS 71.43 “Sweet and spicy with a savoury kick”

Thanks to /u/devoz for sharing this one with us.

Glenburgie. That distillery that we don’t hear too much about that so far, I’ve been impressed by. Granted I’ve only had 3 offerings, all at cask strength, chosen by independent bottlers. Under those situations, we hope that almost any distillery could pump out two, or even three good, great, or even excellent casks, given enough time.

And yeah, one of the bigger surprises of this year was a previous release from SMWS of this very distillery. Glenburgie SMWS 71.43 “Sweet and spicy with a savoury kick” is just two numbers away from said great whisky. It’s also one away from the second, which I didn’t like as much.

So we’ve had Curious and Intriguing, and Sinbad preparing for a journey. Since I assume the second one has something to do with spices, what with the Silk Road and history of great food in the Middle East, I’m intrigued by this one, since it is spicy.

Granted maybe they just meant the one I liked had a lot of sand. And the people drinking it were not Anakin Skywalker.

Let’s see how this tastes, shall we?

Price: $119.99 CAD

Region: Speyside

Date Distilled: 6 June 2007

Age: 9 years

Cask Type: Refill butt / Ex-sherry

Outturn: 618

Abv: 65% Colour: 7.5YR 6/10

Nose: Gingersnaps, candied lemon peel, chilli, tangerine

Huge amount of spice and some candied lemon on the nose. It jumps between citrus and spices, back and forth.

So not too complex, however interesting and fun to nose. Has some complex buttery notes as well.

Taste: Croissant, grape, jujubes, Xmas cake, poppyseeds

More butter, still brown though. Has that baked butter flavour, lots of spice cooked in. Some fruit, some seedy notes that are interesting.

The jujube/grape sweetness may be a little much.

Finish: Cranberry muffin, cherry limeade, white chocolate, gingerbread

Long and clean finish. Just really clean, like that one roommate who never let you eat in the living room and cleaned the house on a weekly basis. And showered twice a day.

Again, spice, but more to it. Cherry with the citrus, and not too sweet (though may be much for some). Has some fatty flavour to it with the sweetness. Overall quite tasty.

Conclusion: This one lays in between the last two. It’s not a huge spice bomb, however has enough for people like myself who feel that Cinnabon holds back too much. It’s sweet, and plays into my sweet tooth love. And overall it’s balance, with nice acidity.

That said, some will want more than a dessert dram, so it’s not for everyone. Unique, interesting, complex, and a good dram. I’d recommend buying a bottle.

86/100

Scotch review #773, Speyside review #219, Whisky Network review #1272