Rare and hard to find

Highly recommended, but only if you can find/afford it

For the details…

Glenury was built in 1825 near the Eastern Highland town of Stonehaven by a local landowner, Captain James Barclay. Illegal distilling had been rife in the area prior to the Excise Act, and in an attempt to diminish that, the Duke of Gordon–who was instrumental in the 1823 Act’s passing–had built a legal distillery on the Ury in 1820, however that burned under somewhat suspicious circumstances. Barclay’s Glenury represented a second attempt.

Captain Barclay was, by all accounts, a rather outsized personality; he was known for the peculiar feat of walking 1,000 miles in as many hours, for being an agricultural reformer, and for being a friend to the king–whence the royal warrant that allowed the distillery to be called Glenury Royal. He owned it until 1858, when it was sold to William Ritchie, in whose family it remained until 1938. In the late 1950s it became part of the DCL (now Diageo) portfolio, and was promptly expanded in the 1960s. Like many of its stablemates, it fell victim to the “whisky loch” of the 1980s, and was permanently closed in 1985. The distillery was demolished, and the site has since been redeveloped, however its spirit has lived on in a number of valedictory bottlings from Diageo, all of considerable antiquity, many of them released in the 2000s and several that have been considerably lauded.

This bottling was one of two 36 year old versions, one from 1968, this one from 1970. I got it at auction for somewhere in the neighborhood of $600-700–not exactly a bargain, but not completely outrageous, as these things go. Glenury had long been one of the lost distilleries that most captured my imagination, so I was anxious to try it and like it. I initially found that it compared rather poorly with another 36 year old lost whisky from Diageo, the stunning 1977 Convalmore, however, it has grown on me. Like ancient whiskies from this era tend to be, it has a lot of funk and notes of varnish, and it teeters toward being overly woody, but all that is balanced by plenty of fruit and even some wisps of smoke, and at the end of the day, it is everything you could wish for from a venerable whisky of a lost era.

Glenury Royal 1970 36 year old (Diageo Special Release) 57.9% abv

Nose: Old. Very, very fruity, fragrant and complex with a pleasant, sour-sharp freshness. Rose blossom, ripe peach, underripe banana and green apple, Sawdust (perhaps from cedar?) and a trace of mushroom. Tart blueberry. Glue. Cheesecake, and even some barley malt in the mix. The cedary notes come more to the fore after tasting.

Body: Hard to describe, but lighter than you might expect, given the age and high strength. Sharp, hard.

Palate: Big, quite explosive, and not at all what you’d expect from the nose; rich, with lots and lots of wood, but the wood is far from overwhelming. There’s a very gentle smoke wafting through, and also green grape and green apple. Varnish. Some salt. Becoming savory.

Finish: Short to medium. Fading, with leather and varnish dominant, but still a hint of tart fruitiness.

Score: 91/100

Who should buy it?: Because of the price point, scarcity, and difficulty of procuring this whisky, I would only recommend this one to the dedicated connoisseur with a taste for the funkier ancient whiskies from the 70s and early 80s. If you’re not sure you fit in that category, you definitely don’t want to turn down a dram, but you probably also won’t want to save your paychecks for this one.

Overall thoughts: A grand old whisky, full of funk and earthy notes, but with lots more going on to amp the complexity. My scoring may be a little generous given my love of this particular–and sadly, lost–style, however, it really is great stuff and I can’t imagine even a harsher critic than I scoring it lower than the mid-80s.

Bottling Information:

Expression: Glenury Royal 1970 36 year old 57.9% abv

Bottler: Proprietor

Range: Special Releases

Bottle Code: n/a

Presentation: Unspecified

Details: Cask strength, distilled 1970, bottled 2007, 36 years old, bottle #1621/1926

Price: As I said, I got it for $600-700, but that was some years ago, and I’d guess you could easily pay twice that now, assuming you can find it at all.

Availability: A reputable auction is probably your best bet for getting a genuine bottle at something vaguely resembling a reasonable price. You might also find an odd bottle at some UK or EU based specialty retail, such as this rather pricey one from Whisky Exchange.

Distillery Information:

Region: Highlands

Location: Stonehaven, Eastern Highlands

Geography: Inland

Date Founded: 1825

Owner: DCL (now Diageo)

Website: https://www.malts.com/en-us/

Capacity: n/a

Plant Summary: n/a

Total expressions sampled: 1

Overall distillery score: n/a

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