A surprising Lowlands trio


October 23, 2026

A surprising Lowlands trio

Let us say that today we shall be tasting two independent bottlings from a Lowlands distillery very seldom seen among the independents, followed by another Lowlands malt rarer still than a French far-left politician with two brain cells still talking to each other.

Glenkinchie 18 yo 2008/2026 (48.4%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, refill hogshead, cask #DL201010, 181 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: very much Glenkinchie as we imagine it, light, fruity, pleasant and without any grand ambitions, with marshmallows and icing sugar, plus lemon and clementine liqueurs. Mouth: the same, but tauter and more lemony, with a reassuringly grassy side, although the overall profile does rather make you want to add ice cubes. And save it for summer, which now runs from early March to late October in these parts. Finish: medium in length, with apple, pear, pineapple, lemon and cane syrup. Comments: we cannot say it sets the world on fire, but nor can we say it is bad, not at all, quite the opposite. Rather the equivalent of a BBC documentary about yak farming in Outer Mongolia. Hugs to our Mongolian friends! (But not to the yaks, let us not get carried away).
SGP:431 - 80 points.

Glenkinchie 12 yo 2013/2026 (53.5%, Duncan Taylor, The Octave, oloroso finish, cask #12382875, 95 bottles)

Curious to see what this micro-bottling of souped-up young ‘kinchie will deliver… Colour: gold. Nose: a very entertaining composition of caffè latte, fudge, praline and walnut liqueur. The tiny cask is probably playing disc jockey here. With water: a little mild ale, a little sanity. Mouth (neat): touches of crystallised ginger, caramel, angelica, ginseng, fresh turmeric… In short, the cask really is the boss. With water: mint tea and bitter almonds. Finish: medium, somewhat dominated by ginger. Comments: please remind me which distillery this was from? Anyway, it is good, just not incredibly memorable.
SGP:441 - 79 points.

And so, our guest of the day, also from the Lowlands…

Kinclaith 40 yo 1969/2009 (47.3%, Signatory Vintage, Cask Strength Collection, hogshead, cask #301445, 217 bottles)

A few words are in order, as I have just noticed that we have already tasted, ta-da, nine different Kinclaiths, and are therefore about to taste our tenth expression (hurrah!). Anyway, Kinclaith operated only from 1957 to 1975. It was not really a standalone distillery, but a small malt production unit installed within Glasgow’s Strathclyde grain distillery, as was done in several places at the time (Ben Wyvis etc.). Naturally, it is very rare nowadays and almost forgotten. Our turn to play, I would say, with thanks to Andrew S., from Pitlochry… Colour: gold. Nose: incredibly fresh, very much on apple tart, or pear, or quince, or mirabelle plum tart, with a hint of cinnamon and three drops of acacia honey. A few touches of elderberries too, which will inevitably remind us of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Mouth: frankly, really very good, with baked apples drizzled with honey and dusted with cinnamon. Touches of chardonnay, white pepper and a hint of horseradish to give everything a little lift. Finish: fairly long, maltier, with more peppery herbal teas and peppermint essential oil. Comments: I would not claim that we can describe Kinclaith’s flavour profile with any precision, but it is part of Scotland’s history all the same. What is more, at forty years of age, this baby has sent the young Glenkinchies straight back to Malt Primary School. Without breaking a sweat.
SGP:551 - 87 points.

Check the index of all Glenkinchie we've tasted