Highland-based distillery Glenglassaugh culls from its epic coastal surroundings and unique heritage alike with a new range of supremely rare expressions. Each one has bottled whisky from a single cask (respectively) that was sitting for decades in the distillery’s coastal warehouse, where the influence of maritime air and toasted oak helped create something truly special. Meet The Serpentine Coastal Cask Collection.
Ultra-aged Scotch whisky is still having its moment and so one might say that now is the perfect time for this collection to strike. Knowing as much, master blender Rachel Barrie went digging through the archives—and by that we mean Glenglassaugh’s coastal warehouse—finding casks dating back to the 1970s. The Serpentine Coastal Cask Collection represents the best of her discoveries so far.
Glenglassaugh will gradually add more expressions to The Serpentine Coastal Cask Collection over time. Meanwhile, they’re kicking things off with the following three single malts:
- Cask Number 1863: The liquid that makes up this single malt was laid to rest inside an Aleatico Red Wine Barrique in 1974 and bottled 48 years later. Ruby and rich in colour, it delivers a fruit-forward nose of blueberry, peach, tamarind, meringue, and salted pistachio cream. On the palate, a decadent fusion of blackberry lychee, and raspberry takes on further dimension as it reveals an underbelly of passionfruit and sea salt.
- Cask Number 5640: This golden whisky spent a whopping 49 years inside an ex-bourbon barrel, taking in all kinds of coastal influence along the way. It’s nearly tropical as a result and thus boldly distinct, opening on a nose of guava, white peach, and coconut cream. The taste is similarly exotic in its silky mouthfeel and fruity profile of papaya, passionfruit, and guava.
- Cask Number 1723: The oldest of the bunch, this luscious liquid rested in a single Oloroso Puncheon cask for 51 long years. It’s molten bronze in colour and rife with the complex aromas of blood orange preserve, cherry, sundried raisin, sandalwood, spiced vetiver, and sea salt. The taste is likewise rich and multi-faceted, unfolding over the palate in waves of raisin balsamic, blackberry jus, and salted treacle with palpable accents of orange and fruit syrup.
The Serpentine Coastal Cask Collection costs a pretty penny but also signifies a remarkable journey on more than one front. For starters, Glenglassaugh shuttered in the 1980s and then came roaring back to life in 2008, a small miracle unto itself. However, it was due to the distillery’s extended dormancy that these particular casks went untouched for so long inside the coastal warehouse, representing yet another small miracle.
Regarding the new collection, master blender Rachel Barrie commented, “It is extremely rare to find casks which have been left to mature in coastal locations for such a long period of time, and our warehouses, perched on cliffs overlooking Sandend Bay, have acted as the custodians of this old and rare liquid for over five decades. These casks give a unique insight into the nature of whisky making at the distillery before it was closed and capture a moment in time like few other expressions can.”
The Serpentine Coastal Cask Collection launched this week in Singapore and will be available around the world in the coming months. Wipe the drool from your mouth and start saving.
