Glenkinchie 1987 - 20 Year Old - First Cask - Single Cask 2848

Glenkinchie was a little-known Lowland distillery in Diageo forerunner United Distillers & Vintners’ portfolio until 1987 when it was picked as the Lowland representative in the company’s Classic Malts range of regional single malt whiskies. 

Over 30 years later, Glenkinchie is a familiar presence in supermarkets and bars - although some malt fans quibbled Glenkinchie’s selection as the distillery does not practise triple-distillation in the traditional Lowland style. Others have never forgiven Glenkinchie for being picked for the Classic Malts ahead of Rosebank, hastening the latter’s demise.

Aside from distillery-only single casks and the standard 12-year-old and Distillers Edition bottlings, official Glenkinchies are rare, with only a handful of long-aged Glenkinchies released this century. Glenkinchie’s importance to the Johnnie Walker blend means that independent bottlings are practically non-existent.

The First Cask range was a prolific series of single malt whisky bottlings by the UK’s largest mail order wine company Direct Wines Ltd, owner of Laithwaite’s and The Sunday Times Wine Club. From the early 1990s until the mid-Noughties Direct Wines released dozens of outstanding single cask whiskies annually under the First Cask label, almost all of which were bottled at 46%.

These whiskies were not particularly highly sought-after on release, probably because they were only sold online through a wine club.  Back then, of course, it was not widely known that the casks had been sourced from Signatory Vintage, which would certainly have raised their profile among whisky fans. Nowadays, although still frequently excellent value at auction, the First Cask collection - which includes hundreds of long-aged whiskies from distilleries including Brora, Port Ellen, Ardbeg and Macallan - is finally getting the recognition it deserves.