Glenglassaugh 8yo Fife Festival Edition
Official Festival Bottle by Fib | 56.8% ABV
Like a Kid in a Candarel Shop
When I think of the word “Glenglassaugh” I think of Rachel Barrie, not because I’ve ever met her, but because I link this distillery with the rare sight of a Master Blender that isn’t a bloke. I also think of Speyside. Which is a mistake. Or is it?
Then I think of the beautiful bottles they launched last year, all rippled surfaces and sun-bleached wood stoppers, and I wonder why I’ve not taken the step into the Glenglassaugh world yet. It might have something to do with thinking it’s a Speyside distillery and my general avoidance of most things Speyside-y. For reasons which I’ll come to, that difficult to explain overtly faux fruity waxy thing just doesn’t seem to work for me.
Looking in the Malt Whisky Yearbook, Glenglassaugh is stated as a Highland distillery, but if I ask Charlie Maclean’s Whiskypedia or even look at whisky offered from Cadenhead’s, it’s a Speyside distillery. Interestingly, it’s the opposite way around with Knockdhu. In a twist of messy marketing spin, Macallan and Glenfarclas both identify as Highland, and they’re definitely Speyside. Anyway, let’s go with the brand and how they identify themselves, and their OB labels tell us they are a Highland distillery.
That’s not to say I don’t love some Speyside whiskies, because the Benromach character is right up my street. I love a Dailuaine, I don’t mind an Aultmore, Benriach is a good value whisky and I quite enjoyed my dalliances with Spey. But classic, straight down the middle Speyside whisky doesn’t appear to fit inside my wheelhouse. Yet it seems that, despite it’s location being a mere ten minute drive from its nearest actual Speyside neighbour - Inchgower - it could have a profile with something very different to offer.
This bottle here was gifted to me by the lovely ladies at Fife Whisky Festival, for taking pictures for the Fife Whisky Festival (FWF) 2024 weekend. The design of the label is fantastic, by local artist Orla Stevens, showing the Corn Exchange in Cupar where the FWF is held each year to huge success - it’s the best festival on the circuit if you want calm, measured whisky exploration.
I fancied buying a bottle of this stuff on the day but unfortunately for Fib Whisky, my attention was being ripped over to the nearby Lindores and Glasgow tables. Fib always put on a good show at FWF with some very interesting whiskies to try, and a “Fermutations” Ardmore in 1st Fill Syrah from FWF 2023 made a huge impression on many, mostly because of the colour: a distinctive Merlot shade of red.
Fib Whisky are a Fife-based independent bottler of whisky, with a penchant for fiddling with the casks to see what happens. Something I’m in favour of - why not, you never know what could result, so long as the original character is retained and not blootered out the park by an extremely active cask. Their website makes their remit clear, through a mission statement that culminates in the declaration that, whilst they might fiddle with the finishing of a whisky, they never fiddle with colour, filtration or strength.
The company was founded by Aeden Burt, who joined the ranks of whisky exciters when he was studying at St. Andrews University. Aeden passed away in 2023 after a sudden illness, leaving co-founder Iain Mundy, alongside his brother Andrew, to continue the Fib Whisky journey. The brothers are musicians to boot, gigging around Fife in their band Braw. Whisky and music - brothers in arms. It writes itself.
Review
Glenglassaugh 8yo, Fib Whisky Fife Whisky Festival Official Bottling, Port Barrique for 8y 9mo, then Sauternes cask for 2 months, 56.8% ABV
£87 - Sold Out
Looking at this whisky through stumpy tapering square glass, it invites the mouth to start watering profusely. Thick golden syrup that’s slightly hazy. This is the Official Festival Bottling for 2024 and comprises a Glenglassaugh that’s been matured in a Port Barrique for 8 years and 9 months, with a rub against some Sauternes for 2 final months. It’s 56.8%, presented naturally, naturally, and was a release of 91 bottles only. Why they didn’t wait an extra month and call it and even 9 years old is weird?
My bottle is 92 of 91, and I feel special, but they just had a few extras and didn’t want them going to waste. It’s a lovely product overall and looks great in the new, simplified Fib bottles. The price commanded for this bottle on the day of the festival was £87, which is a big number. It’s a single cask, finished whisky, at cask strength. That price isn’t too far away from a lot of the other young single cask independent releases - Finn Thompson is up there in price. The Single Cask company likewise. Alistair Walker is up there, but Fib seems to be just that bit more than all the rest.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so let’s get into it.
Nose
PVA glue. Natural honey. Toasting sugar. Buttery crumpet. Rich, velvety syrup. Bit of oakiness, burnished sweet rather than woody.
Palate
Sweet honey magic. Candarel/sweetener. Boiled sweets, puckered cheeks, furry teeth. Tablet, fudge, vanilla pods. Sweetener. Digestives. Caramel shortcake. Fake chocolate.
The Dregs
It’s got a brilliant entry - all buttery honey popcorn. Not knowing the Glenglassaugh base spirit character I’m a bit unsure as to what the main bulk of maturation in port has achieved, or what the sniff of Sauternes at the end has given, so I’m only really assessing it from a position of what it smells and tastes like as a whisky, rather than an iteration of Glenglassaugh.
Overall it’s a bit of a honey pot dram. The Speyside character, as I understand it, is a tropically sweet, almost saccharine affair. It’s a juicy boiled sweet, wrapped in buttery popcorn, and if that’s your jam, then this bottle will be a winner. I really enjoyed it, but that overtly sweet note - like a dose of sweeteners rather than granulated sugar in your tea - inside this not-Speyside-Speyside whisky and many pure Speysiders, has prevented me from really truly swooning over it. It’s an artificial note, rather than a more natural sweetness. It feels off, or masking, or diverting in some way.
That’s not to say it’s not an engaging whisky, because it is. I just don’t think my profile is Speyside. It’s not a flavour beast that you can pick apart for days, and presented quite uniformly over the course of the bottle - the sweet side of vanilla, tablet, maybe even a digestive base caramel shortcake.
Despite the uniformity and synth edge, it’s worth your time and a good bottle to spend an evening with - it’s not hot, doesn’t jarr and goes down far too easily for almost 57% whisky. For the price, I guess it’s high for what you’re getting in flavour, but it’s high quality whisky nonetheless. Had there been more bite in the way of salt or dirt or something grippy (or £15 less), it might have bumped up to a 7, but for now it remains good stuff.
What it has done is ignite an interest in Glenglassaugh, but the worry I have is that the Speyside Sweetness thing permeats their Official Bottlings of Highland Whisky. Maybe it’s the Sauternes? Maybe it’s the port. I guess there’s only one way to find out. My thanks again to the ladies of FWF for sending me this, I’ve really enjoyed my time with it.
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DC