Glenburgie 1992-2019 - 27 Year Old - Cadenheads Gold Label - Single Cask

Glenburgie is a large Speyside distillery whose production of over 4m litres per year is almost entirely destined for the Ballantine’s blend. The distillery’s association with Ballantine’s goes back as far as the 1930s when Glenburgie was brought out of mothballs by new owner Hiram Walker. As well as its traditional pot-distilled whisky, Glenburgie made a separate spirit called Glencraig on a pair of Lomond stills from 1958-1981. Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard) bought Glenburgie in 2005 following a major reconstruction during which the distillery was completely demolished and rebuilt. 

Official bottlings of Glenburgie have always been extremely rare due to its importance to Ballantine’s, although a handful of new official bottlings under the Ballantine’s brand have appeared since 2017. Gordon & MacPhail have been releasing licensed bottlings of Glenburgie since the 1980s and other independent bottlings (including some excellent Glencraigs) have become more frequent in recent years.

In 1842 George Duncan established a wine merchant and distillery agency business in Aberdeen. Duncan was joined in the early 1850s by his brother-in-law William Cadenhead, who took over the business after Duncan’s death in 1858, changing the company’s name to Wm. Cadenhead. When Cadenhead died in 1904 the company passed to his nephew Robert Duthie, who developed the spirits side of the business.

Duthie died suddenly in 1931, and employee Ann Oliver was put in charge of Cadenhead’s. Sadly, Oliver’s tenure ended in financial difficulty and on her retirement in 1972 the business was forced to sell its entire inventory. Cadenhead’s was acquired soon afterwards by J & A Mitchell, proprietors of Springbank distillery, who relocated the business to Campbeltown. Cadenhead’s has flourished under Mitchell’s stewardship, releasing many legendary single malt bottlings in the 1980s and 1990s and now has outlets in Edinburgh and London as well as Campbeltown.