Glengoyne 15 Year
Glengoyne is one of those rare distilleries that has been in continuous operation since its founding in 1833. Where other distilleries paused for wars or were bought and sold on the winds of economic change, Glengoyne persisted. The distillery focuses on six elements that comprise their current spirit: unpeated, patience, oak casks, maturation, natural color, and tradition. Some of those are more tactile than others but all can impact the final product. Glengoyne is also unique in its geography, sitting right on the border between scotch regions. The whisky is made in the Highlands region but then transported across the road and ages in the Lowlands region. The Glengoyne 15 Year is one of several age statement expressions comprising the distillery’s core range and made from a blend matured in either ex-bourbon or ex-sherry casks.
Royal Brackla 12 Year
The Royal Brackla holds a claim to fame that few Scottish distilleries can match, which is the royal warrant it was granted in 1835 by King William IV that allowed the distillery to use the “royal” adjective as part of the name (the other two are Royal Lochnagar in 1848 and the now closed Glenury Royal). Founded in 1817, Royal Brackla has run mostly uninterrupted for over 200 years. Like many distilleries, it shut down briefly due to world wars or market surpluses and has gone through several changes in ownership but has never been dormant for long. Its output has long gone into blends and thus not received much individual attention. That changed in 2015, however, when current owner Dewar’s released a range of single malts. This Royal Brackla 12 is from the spring of 2020, when the core range was relaunched to comprise a 12, 18 and 21 year age statements.
Ledaig 18 Year
The Ledaig brand comprises one half of Tobermory’s output, a heavily peated malt in the 30-40ppm range. The Tobermory distillery, in fact, was originally founded as the Ledaig distillery in 1798. The distillery has four wash stills and four spirit stills, with production capable of a million liters of spirit a year after an upgrade in 1990. The water for the whisky is taken from a small, private loch close to the Mishnish lochs. While the number of offerings in the brand is limited, they occasionally include limited options often featuring special cask finishes or unusual age statements. The Ledaig 18 is finished in ex-Sherry wood, though the official details don’t seem to note specifically what kind of sherry. Others seem to think well of this scotch, as it has won several awards at recent spirits competitions.