Pencaitland and Glenkinchie Distillery - Justerini & Brooks

Located southeast of Edinburgh, Pencaitland is often described as being the garden of Scotland. This beautiful, if a little flat, part of the country is no less pretty than the jagged peaks of the West Coast and is enveloped with attractive green pastures and hedgerows. The distilleries of the area are graced with incredibly fertile land and wouldn’t look out of place in a Tolkien novel.

One of the last working Lowland distilleries for many years, Glenkinchie has benefited as other Lowland malts have not, from its proximity to Scotland’s capital city, and it is known as “The Edinburgh Malt”. It occupies a sylvan setting with its own bowling green, yet possesses two of the largest stills in Scotland, the last replacement of which required the removal of the still house roof when the distillery converted to steam heated stills in 1981. This is one of the oldest Glenkinchie releases ever bottled, and the oldest distillery bottling. Taking inspiration from the exquisite porcelain of China’s great dynasties, it has been slowly matured for 27 years to achieve an imperiously refined expression of its apple orchard flavours and lush meadow aromas, classic to Glenkinchie and the garden of Scotland. I tend to add a touch of water to this. At 58.3% ABV, just a drop settles the alcohol and brings out all of the almond and vanilla nuance.