Glendullan Distillery sits on the outskirts of Dufftown in Speyside, founded in 1897 as the seventh and final malt distillery built in what was then a booming whisky town. The original Victorian distillery was joined in 1972 by a second, adjacent distillery on the same site, and the older of the two was eventually mothballed, leaving the modern Glendullan to carry the name forward.
Under Diageo's stewardship, Glendullan became the American face of The Singleton range. Where the Singleton of Glen Ord leads in Asia and the Singleton of Dufftown in Europe, the Singleton of Glendullan has been aimed chiefly at the United States market, where it has become one of Diageo's best-selling single malts.
At 38 years old, this release is a world away from the standard core range. Bottlings of Glendullan at this age are vanishingly rare; much of the distillery's output has historically fed blends such as Bell's and Old Parr, and cask stocks of genuinely old Glendullan are correspondingly thin. A release at nearly four decades is the kind of event that attracts collectors and auction houses more than everyday drinkers.
Over 38 years the classical Speyside spirit has taken on a deeply waxy, honeyed character, with the dried fruit and polished oak that long refill maturation tends to develop. The cereal note of the young spirit has receded, replaced by layers of beeswax, tobacco and orange marmalade. Bottled at 46.9% ABV, the whisky has enough strength to carry its weight without dilution.
For those who have only ever met Glendullan through the Singleton's entry-level bottlings, this release is a quiet reminder that Speyside's unsung distilleries can age just as gracefully as their more famous neighbours, given time and patience in the warehouse.
