Glenglassaugh recentley released this Rare Cask 2009 single Cask No 1346 as one of the UK exclusive releases in the Glenglassaugh Coastal Casks Collection.

This single cask was distilled on the 22nd December 2009, it is unpeated and was matured for 10 years in Bourbon Cask No. 1346 which produced only 250 bottles.

The Glenglassaugh Cask No 1346 has a RRP of £89 and will be available exclusively from the Glenglassaugh Distillery but if you wont be passing the distillery anytime soon the other UK exclusive release in this collection will be available from specialist online whisky retailers

Cask 1346 – 10 year old Glenglassaugh

Distillery.. Glenglassaugh

Region.. Highlands

Distilled.. 22 December 2009

Abv.. 54.7%

Cask.. Bourbon Barrel No 1346

Outturn.. 250 Bottles

RRP.. £89

Nose.. Vanilla Latte accompanied by a slice of lemon cheese cake with a digestive biscuit base.. Add a little poached pear, apple slices, pineapple and top off with some candied lemon slices and a touch of bounty bar, and that just about sums it up perfectly..

Palate.. Whoa…. OK this is a fire cracker on the palate.. Peppery with a lovely ginger kick introduce you to some bitterness from lemon before it descends into a very tasty bowl of fresh fruits, milk chocolate digestive biscuits, toffee and a gentle hint of oak.

Finish.. Warming spices and oak.

Thoughts.. There is lots of evidence this is still on the young side, although the 10 year statement defies that. The flavours are bold and hungry to please whilst the nose quietly leads you into a false sense of security.

When you first begin to nose this you certainly expect a nice gentle sipping whisky full of fresh fruits and soothing flavours that might be more commonly found in a typical speysider or lowland offering, but be warned this little fellow has some attitude.. But boy is it tasty when you get to grips with it..

But i suppose that statement almost brings into the question about how important and how misleading the belief in regions is these days. Gone are the days where you could describe the typical notes associated with each region, Lowland drams are no longer the light, floral beauties of the past and the very typical fruity beasts of Speyside have now been replace by a barrage of styles including many peated expressions.

It is interesting though how we all still refer to the region style and then follow it with the question of authenticity. Regions of sorts were first reported somewhere around the 1700s in Scotland when the North and South were regulated differently due to taxes, then around a century later when more and more distilleries were becoming legitimate and blends were the mainstay there became more splits and regions became more evident with the birth of Campbeltown, Islay and Speyside.

Islay for example is widely regarded for its peat monsters and yet these days there is a split, no longer are all the distilleries offering us the “typical” peat monsters but instead we have the fruity beauties of Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain to name just two, then head over to speyside where we have the typical fruity whiskies of BenRiach and Glen Moray to name only two, both of which then side swipe us with a very good peated expression. Head into the Highlands and bring forward those wonderful sherried expressions of Glendronach then add some of that Peat once again just to throw us of the scent..

This is only a small example of how exhausting this subject can become. So i put to you this, are regions now just a pipe dream of those good old days ?

Is it now time to move on ?

Should we maybe refer to Provenance ?

Is that a more relevant factor within the industry?

Possibly or Probably ?

With thanks to Glenglassaugh for the official sample.