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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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May 29, 2026 |
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WF's Quirky Little Duos,
today Glenugie vs Glenury
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So, there is this new official Glenury Royal bottled at a very high strength, which has already caused quite a stir since late April. But for us at Château WF, given our comparison-based procedures, it immediately created a problem because — imagine the scandal — we did not have a single other Glenury in our sample library. So, what were we to do? We gave it some thought and eventually adopted what may well be the most ridiculous solution possible: choosing another malt whose name begins with the same letters, which was also distilled in the 1970s and which, likewise, was bottled at a very high alcoholic strength. That’s right, a Glenugie… But the resemblance should end there. We shall begin with the younger one, since the bottling strengths are similar… |
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Glenugie 15 yo 1977/1993 (63.6%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #99.3) 
Imagine that we haven’t even tasted forty Glenugies since the very early days of Whiskyfun. It’s true that the distillery, far to the east of Scotland and well north of Aberdeen, stopped smoking in 1983, like so many others. Yet some Glenugies sublime, such as those by Sestante. Less convinced, though, by the blend the distillery partly fed into, Long John. Colour: full gold. Nose: perhaps a little closed by the high strength, we’re mostly getting mashed banana mingled with soft honey and floral syrup (mullein, for example). Touches of white clover. With water: a little more forthcoming, soft, rounded, though mainly on sweet barley, alongside rather gentle pipe tobacco. Mouth (neat): much more brutal on the palate, rough, very spirity, very much on grandfather’s kirsch, if you see what I mean. Melon skin, albedo. Quite surprising really, it genuinely needs water. With water: it keeps this very rustic side, on fruit skins, herbal bitters, grape pips, green pepper… Finish: long, on similar flavours, with almost a slightly new-make side. Comments: of course it’s very good, but I can’t help being a little disappointed. Perhaps not quite up there with the Glenury, we shall see in just a moment…
SGP:561 - 85 points. |
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Glenury Royal 1970/2026 (62.4%, OB, Rare Series, 232 bottles) 
Ex- American oak hogsheads then European oak puncheons. Glenury Royal was closed in 1985, then demolished around ten years later. At ‘only’ around £5,500, one could almost call this one a bargain, if you compare that with the prices fetched these days by certain far more common names. On our side, we’ve tasted even fewer Glenuries than Glenugies, 36 in total. I’m ashamed… That said, the Rare Malts were very good, especially the 1971. The 50 yo 1953 OB, meanwhile, was already a little marked by age, though the 40 yo 1970 was excellent. In any case, let’s see whether this comes from the same cloth as that magnificent Talisker from this very same new Diageo ‘Rare Series’. By the way, did you notice the incredible strength for a malt of this age? Colour: full gold. Nose: stop everything, this is rather sublime, on a basket of citrus fruits of every imaginable kind, which, with all due humility, we shall refrain from listing individually. In any case, the oranges are reigning supreme. Behind them come the inevitable orange blossom water, the panettones that naturally follow, a few tiny camphory and mentholated touches, and that’s about it. Yet it’s immense. You could also throw in a drop of sweet Jurançon wine while you’re at it, petit and gros manseng… With water: it doesn’t budge. Proof that alcohol preserves things (eh?) Mouth (neat): just as sublime. Take all those orange-led notes again, then add a few drops of green Chartreuse, or spruce bud liqueur. Lovely resinous side. With water: once again, it doesn’t move an inch, which is rather incredible. If anything, it merely becomes a little more resinous still, vaguely recalling those retsinas our Greek friends swear can actually be very good. We’ll take their word for it. Finish: frankly, it’s much the same for quite a long while. Comments: the balance between citrus fruits and pine sap and so forth is sublime.
SGP:661 - 92 points. |
Feeling slightly sorry for Glenugie, really. Still, we can’t wait to taste the Clynelish from the same series as this superb Glenury Royal. Very soon on WF! |
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