Glendullan 12 Year Old

Glendullan distillery is located in Dufftown in Speyside and was established in 1897 by William Williams & Sons Ltd. who were blenders from Aberdeen. The distillery was acquired by the Distillers Company Ltd. (DCL) in 1926, a predecessor organisation of today's Diageo. In 1972, a new Glendullan distillery was built next to the original one, with six stills compared to the former's two stills, and both distilleries operated next to each other until the old one was closed in 1985. Glendullan is one of Diageo's largest producers and most of the production is used for blends, although in 2007 Diageo launched the Singleton of Glendullan as a new single malt for the US market. The 12-year old version from the 'Flora & Fauna' series was first launched in 1992 as a semi-official bottling and has been available ever since, even though stocks appear to have dwindled over the past few years.

The nose is quite floral and perfumy, with notes of green grass, apples and above all grapefruits. I also got some milky and buttery flavours and hints of oranges. All in all this is a gentle and rather well balanced nose.

The palate is medium-bodied, buttery and just a bit spicy. The grass and apple flavours from the nose are back, together with notes of cereal and malted barley, and followed by a touch of liquorice.

The finish is of medium length and dry. There are more grapefruit and orange flavours, accompanied by notes of malted barley and some wood spice.

This is a gentle and quite floral single malt, of the kind that is not seen too frequently these days. Ideal for an aperitif, if you ask me.

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