The first sample I picked up this year was a heavily sherried Highland Park, but as we already reviewed one of these not so long ago, I decided to go for this Glen Elgin 1995 instead. It’s a distillery and vintage that showed up regularly from different independent bottlers over the years, and it rarely disappoints.
It was bottled by Signatory Vintage in March 2020 from a single hogshead.
Glen Elgin 24 yo 1995 (48,5%, Signatory Vintage 2020, hogshead #3273, 243 btl.)
Nose: a nice mix of juicy fruits (green apples, pears, gooseberries, green melons) with mineral oils, maybe a hint of Clynelish wax as well. Elderflower cordial. Some grassy notes and chamomile. A chalky hint too. Very nice, as most Elgins from this era.
Mouth: still this kind of fatty style with plenty of fruits and a very drinkable strength. Oranges and green bananas, a little lemon flavoured Dextro Energy as well. Then some almond paste, pollen and beeswax. Shortbread. Floral honey. Hints of mint and aniseed.
Finish: medium, chalky and waxy without loosing the citrus fruits. Some added leafy notes in the very end.
It may not exactly knock your socks off, but this combination of juicy fruits and waxy notes always works for me. Good whisky in fairly shy wood. Still available from The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt.