Glengoyne distillery is in operation since its founding in 1833 at Dumgoyne, north of Glasgow, Soctland. Glengoyne is unique in producing Highland Single Malt whisky matured in the Lowlands. Located upon the Highland Line, the division between the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland, Glengoyne's stills are in the Highlands while maturing casks of whisky rest across the road in the Lowlands. Glengoyne distillery is often referred to be one of the most beautiful distillery in Scotland. The area around the distillery is full of hills and forests, a beautiful setting. Glengoyne has been continuously producing single malt whisky for over 175 years. Glengoyne is one of the distilleries alongside Bruichladdie that uses Golden Promise barley to this day, which is a bit low in yield but very high in quality. Similar to the Concerto and Momentum barley that Macallan uses. Glengoyne does not use peat smoke, instead they use warm air. They even say: "The authentic taste of malt whisky untainted by peat smoke". For me this is true. I don't like heavily peated whiskies that much, however I enjoy a lightly peated whisky any time of the day such as Highland Park, Ardmore or Ardnamurchan. Glengoyne produces over 1,000,000 litres of new make every single year. And they have to! They have to feed the beast, us. Their core range which consists of the 10, 12, 15, 18, 21 year olds, Cask Strength and Legacy are very popular and they sell like candy.

Glengoyne 25 year old - Non-chill filtered, Natural Color, 48%

It all started with the 12 year old back in the day. Why? Well, maybe not many of you yet know but I am a huge fan of Macallan. I look at Macallan as one of the perfect whiskies out there as far as flavor and balance goes for me. So there was a huge price bump and the Macallan 15 doubled in price in Hungary. And I was like no, no, I am not paying that. So I started looking around on the internet for single malts that have the same kind of balance and flavour profile. Didn't take too long for me to come across Glengoyne. I read quite a few reviews and watched videos on YouTube about it. As always I do my research. Then I went ahead and purchased it. It was a huge win. I loved it and it costs the fraction of any Macallan. Then as time went by I tried the 10, 15 and 18 year old bottlings alongside the Cask Strength and Legacy Chapter 2 & 3. Most of them very amazing. The Legacy Chapter 3 left me disappointed though. Then there was a discount in one of the stores in Hungary on the Glengoyne 25. I also had a coupon from a previous event and I decided to pick it up along with a few of my friends so we can do a bottle share. The packaging is beautiful. Big heavy wooden box, thick glass bottle and a great cork. One of the best presentations I have ever seen in my life.

Nose: Good sherry, even a little old school. No real surprise but this has seen some seriously good casks.. Starts with apricot, tangerine, caramelized fig, raisin and blueberry. Followed by chocolate sauce, apple pie, jaffa cake, marzipan and cherry cola. Also honey, cinnamon, licorice root, roast coffee bean, balsamic vinegar, leather, tobacco, aniseed and a touch of menthol. Very hard to pin down everything, it's really good. Sherried whisky hardly surprises me anymore but this is top tier.

Taste: A bold arrival which covers the whole mouth. Perfect strength as it's not too watered down and also doesn't numb your mouth. We have orange, tangerine, raisin, maraschino cherry and kiwi. Then there's dark chocolate, caramel, treacle, Christmas cake, sultana and cherry cola. Furthermore honey, oak, leather, tobacco, walnut, aniseed, cinnamon, a hint of limoncello and some wood polish. So good. Often sherried whisky becomes too dry, this does not and stays 'chewy' for the entire session. With so many layers to break down, I recommend taking your time with it.

Finish: Long, as it's supposed to be. Balancing on the edge of too much dryness. There's apricot, raisin, strawberry, cacao dusting, sultana, caramel, lemon sherbet, honey and walnut.

So as my conclusion, this is an awesome whisky. It's pricy yes. But it's worth every penny. This is in my top 10 so far. I award this a whopping 93 / 100. Now, let's get to the bottle that is even older than this. Let's see what that can do.

Glengoyne 30 year old - Non-chill filtered, Natural Color, 46.8%

As you can see on the picture, from this bottle I only had a sample. Thanks to a fellow hungarian whisky geek, I was able to taste this thing of beauty which is even older than me. This bottle costs a leg and an arm, more than double of the price of the 25 year old. My sample is from the 2020 bottling which was distilled in either 1989 or 1990. I've tasted the Macallan 30 year old and I wanted to pit this one against that thing beauty. Let's see if this can match the greatness of my number 1 whisky ever. When I poured it I instantly smelled how nice and balanced it is between fruit and wood. Let's get into it.

Nose: I let it rest in the glass for around an hour. Massive nose. Starts off with grammy's fruit jam. Lots of raspberry, cherries and dark chocolate. A great deal of oak emerges from the 30 year of maturation. Malty notes come through very nicely. Figs and dark bitter oranges. A hint of citrus thang. Amazing, massive, lovely. One of the best I ever smelled.

Taste: Ok, explosion of flavours in your mouth... Figs, dates, lots of dark chocolate and a huge amount of oak. Even so this is greatly balanced between bitterness and sweetness. Again fruit jam and malt. Cherries and chocolate cake.

Finish: The 46.8% abv greatly contributes to the finish. Long, lasting. Minutes in the mouth. Firstly very sweet but then turns to oak and bitter oranges with cherries. Amazing, just what I expected. An amazing long and balanced finish.

Overall I think this is yet again I say...an absolute fabulous dram. The nose falls a bit short of the Macallan 30 year old but the taste and the better finish makes up for it. Tie. This and the Macallan 30 year old are now my highest ranked whiskies. I rate this 96 / 100. Try it if you can.

These two single malts are one of the highest points in my journey yet. They represent the classic whisky experience for me. Lovely balance of oak & fruit, a classic sweet but not overly sweet Highland Single Malt. If you ever have the chance to try these, please do. They might be expensive but they are an experience not to be missed. Believe me. You will regret it if you pass on them.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. To many more. Sláinte.