Glen Garioch Distillery 36 year old 1988 Bourbon Finish Single Malt Scotch Whisky from Finn Thomson Whisky - The Rare Collection 45.2% 70cl

Glen Garioch Distillery 36 year old 1988 Bourbon Finish Single Malt Scotch Whisky from Finn Thomson Whisky - The Rare Collection 45.2% 70cl 

From Finn Thomson Whisky The Rare Collection, a 36 year old Glen Garioch Bourbon Finish Single Malt. 

Distilled on 18/04/1988 and bottled on 15/01/2025

Limited to only 110 bottles. 

Single cask number: 157714

There is always something incredibly special about a bottling of single malt scotch whisky from a bygone era. And this 36 year old Glen Garioch is exactly that. Distilled in 1988, this cask was filled at a time when Glen Garioch was still producing a peated style of spirit. The early 1990s saw the boom of single malt whiskies with blends slowly taking a back seat and Glen Garioch then evolved its production to focus on making an unpeated whisky instead.

This old Glen Garioch has a wonderfully rugged charm, firm, earthy, and distinctly smoky. It has a waxy depth to it, with malty sweetness, gentle peat, and a dry, herbal edge from the old floor maltings and coal-fired stills. A whisky with real Highland grit, full of texture and character.

This old peated style from Glen Garioch has been lost in time and now there are just a handful of casks from this era to give an insight into this lost style of Glen Garioch. This cask is a reminder of how the Scotch Whisky industry has changed with time. While the names and stories may all stand the test of time, it is worth remembering the liquid produced is ever evolving with the times. No two casks are ever the same which is the true beauty of this rare single cask whisky.

Tasting Notes: At 36 years of age there is just a gentle wisp of smoke. The long maturation has resulted in a whisky with an explosion of umami flavours - smoked nuts, cured meats and brown butter all hint at the impressive age of this cask. There is an oily mouthfeel also that is only possible to find in such well aged whiskies.

Finn Thomson grew up being inspired by his Granddad, Michael who spent the 1980s and 1990s selecting and collecting the young casks of single malts and grains that had formed the secret recipe of the Beneagles blend, handed down over the generations. In doing so, he accumulated one of Scotland’s largest private cask collections.