Glenturret, at Crieff in Perthshire, claims the mantle of Scotland's oldest continually working distillery, with production records reaching back to 1763. Since 2019 it has been owned jointly by Lalique and the Hansch family, and under master whisky maker Bob Dalgarno the distillery has refocused around hand-crafted production — floor-malting, direct-fired stills and hand-filled casks remain part of the house story.
The 2023 edition of the annual Limited Edition continues Dalgarno's pattern of assembling a vatting from hand-selected casks and presenting it as a single named release. It arrives without an age statement but at a healthy 46.8% abv, unchillfiltered, and with the kind of presentation — hand-numbered bottles, weighty packaging — that signals its collectable intent.
The nose is the first clue to the cask make-up: European oak sherry influence is clearly present, with dark honey, marmalade and a touch of leather, but there is also a lighter toasted-wood note suggesting some refill bourbon in the blend. The palate is oily and dense for a Highland, showing dried fruit, espresso and dark chocolate before the oak spice builds. Water softens it and lets baked-apple sweetness emerge.
It is a serious dram and priced accordingly. Whether it represents good value depends on one's appetite for limited annual editions, but on quality grounds it stands up well. Duncan's verdict: a confident statement from a distillery rediscovering itself under Lalique, and one of the more thoughtful Highland limited releases of recent years.
