A Scot on Scotch

WHISKY REVIEWS, NEWS, HISTORY & FOLKLORE

A Scot on Scotch is a whisky blog focusing predominantly on Scotch whisky. In this latest post, Neill Murphy reviews an 11-year-old Glen Elgin single malt bottled by independent bottler, The Single Cask.

A Love of The Single Cask

The Single Cask is an independent bottler of Scotch whiskies, a cask broker, and the owner of a renowned whisky bar in Singapore. Founder Ben Curtis worked in the wine trade before taking on the role of importer for Speyside whisky, Glenfarclas, throughout Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. To enhance his knowledge of Scotch, Curtis embarked on a whirlwind tour of 67 distilleries and soon added Tamdhu and Glengoyne to his importer portfolio.

Through his work with Glenfarclas, Curtis developed a new love and appreciation for single cask bottlings and established The Single Cask independent bottler to explore the category further.

Due to the multi-faceted nature of The Single Cask as a business, Curtis launched the Family Series, a selection of bottlings that would be chosen by colleagues from each division of the company.

Glen Elgin Distillery

The whisky featured in this review was released as part of the aforementioned Family Series. It was distilled at Glen Elgin, in the famous Speyside region.

Glen Elgin has had an interesting time of it, over the years. The Scotch whisky industry has famously moved in cycles of boom and bust and Glen Elgin was built in 1898, at the tail end of a boom. The distillery operated for just five months before it was forced to close, a victim of a devastating, industry-wide slump.

The distillery had been designed by renowned architect, Charles Doig. upon completion of the project, Doig speculated that Glen Elgin would be the last distillery built on Speyside for 50 years. He was right – the next was Tormore in 1958.

These days, Glen Elgin is owned by Diageo and most of its spirit is used in blends like Johnnie Walker. The only official bottling of a single malt is a 12-year-old expression in the Flora & Fauna series. The best way, therefore, to get to know Glen Elgin, is to hunt down some independently bottled versions, like this single cask release from, er, The Single Cask.

The Single Cask Family Series Glen Elgin 11-year-old

The whisky was distilled on the 16th of March 2011 and bottled on the 13th of July 2022. It was bottled from a Tawny Port cask at a strength of 54.2% abv.

Tasting notes: The nose carries notes of furniture polish, walnuts and stewed fruits. There are some summer berries too, along with honey and caramel. Some fragrant spices underneath. On the palate, it arrives with a rush of honeyed sweetness before turning nutty and woody, with plenty of oak spice.

Thoughts: A woody, warming dram. The cask (or casks – it’s unclear if this is finished, or full-term maturation) has certainly made its mark. It’s nutty, woody and spicy but there’s enough weight and body in the spirit to stand up to the domination of the oak. At cask strength, I found it quite bold but a splash of water softened the rough edges and made for a more enjoyable experience. It brought out some lighter, fruity notes and brought some vanilla to the fore. In fact, the longer it sat in the glass with the water, the better it seemed to get. After a while it took on an almost buttery texture that I really enjoyed. I approached this dram with more curiosity than high expectations but have been pleasantly surprised.

Price: £58.80. A very fair price for a whisky of real quality from an underappreciated distillery.

For more about The Single Cask visit here

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