Private Barrel Co Glenlossie 15 year old Whisky

I am still working through the mini bottles of whisky I had in the cupboard.  Today I am looking at the Checkers  Private Barrel Co Glenlossie 15 year old Scotch whisky.

Diageo owns this beautiful Speyside distillery and near to quite a few distilleries, including BenRiach, Glen Moray, Linkwood and Longmorn. It is known for its splendid roof and beautiful onion-shaped stills.

John Duff, the former manager at Glendronach, built the distillery in 1876. The distillery changed hands a few times during the years and ended up with Diageo through mergers. It takes its name from the valley of the River Lossie, which is less than a mile away.

The Glenlossie distillery is unique as it shares the building with another distillery, Mannochmore Distillery which was built in 1971. The water used in Glenlossie is drawn from the local Bardon Burn.

Also Read: Glenfarclas 12 yo Whisky

The primary volume of spirit from Glenlossie ends up in Diageo blends, including the Haig blended whisky. The Glenlossie warehouses also serve as the storage vault for more than 200,000 casks of whisky originating from many different Diageo distilleries.

You will rarely see a single malt bottling from Glenlossie. That is the reason why Checkers chose this distillery.  It is an unknown distillery in SA and not something you find everywhere.

One of the few releases is the Diageo’s Flora and Fauna series where it was bottled as a 10 yo. Independent bottlings are sometimes released, and Glenlossie has featured in Signature Vintage, and Douglas Laing releases.

Checkers Private Barrel Co Glenlossie 15 year old Whisky Review

The Private Barrel Co Glenlossie 15 year old single malt whisky has been aged in bourbon casks.

REGION: Speyside

COLOUR: Rich gold

NOSE: Green notes with tropical fruit sweetness. Hints of grass and freshly baked bread. Soft spices in the background.

PALATE: Pineapple sweetness and honey balanced with vanilla and soft pink pepper. Hints of smoke and green grass mixed with bits of oak. Water releases more fruity notes and pear comes forward but softens the other notes.  Soft and sophisticated.

FINISH: Medium length with hints of pepper, vanilla and fruit.

RATING: VERY GOOD

An interesting dram that brings a new dimension to the table. It is not overly complex or bold, but memorably different. Easy drinking for a late Sunday afternoon pre-dinner drink. Just add a few drops of water to release more fruitiness. This is one of those distilleries that you don’t get to try on a regular day.

I love that Checkers finds these out of the way releases. They allow us to explore new distilleries this way, which is exciting!

I have written a lot more on the Private Barrel Co releases both their “odd bin” releases where they only give the bottling a number such as the Private Barrel Co No 41 and their named releases such as the Glen Grant 17 year old or the James Sedgwick 6 year old whisky.

Also Read: McCarthy’s whiskey