Glenkinchie Distillers Edition 2020

A wonderful example of Lowland Single Malt double-matured for a grape-forward profile with layers of nuts and fruit.

Glenkinchie is one of the distilleries that has been producing for centuries in the same spot — about fifteen miles east of Edinburgh — but most people weren’t even aware of it. The distillery was founded by brothers John and George Rate in 1825. In 1853 the distillery went bankrupt and was converted briefly into a sawmill. But it was rebuilt by a Major James Grey in 1881 and started making Single Malt Whisky once again.

For generations nearly 100% of production was used in premium Scotch blends. Now owned by Diageo, they still use the Spirit as a component to upper-end Johnnie Walker Scotches. But starting in 1989 a few special releases of Glenkinchie Single Malt found their way to market. Today there is even a lovely visitor center, but Single Malt bottlings are still far too few for our liking.

For the last few months we’ve been drooling over the latest Distiller’s Editions coming from Diageo. These limited editions come out just once per year and represent iconic distilleries in the Diageo portfolio. Each distillery submits their best effort in a bid to get included. It’s considered a high honor.

Distilled in 2008 and bottled in 2020, Glenkinchie Distillers Edition 2020 takes the superlative 12-year-old Single Malt from their core lineup and double matures it in rare Amontillardo Sherry casks to build layers of flavor that are just super-delectable.