Review by: Raygun

Another closed distillery up, at least for now. Coleburn was mothballed in 1985 and so far remains that way. Murray McDavid bought the brand and uses its warehouses, and I hear has plans to resume production. When and whether they will use the original site and equipment, I don’t know. Whether they plan to use weird finishes for all of it has also yet to be announced. Reviewed from a sample. Rested about 15 minutes.

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Distillery: Coleburn

Bottler: Signatory Vintage, The Un-chillfiltered Collection 

Region/style: Speyside single malt Scotch

ABV: 46% 

Age: 19 years. Distilled on October 22, 1981,1 bottled on July 27, 2001. 

Cask type: Sherry butt #1343, 780 bottles. That’s a big butt.     

Color: 1.1 burnished. Natural color. Non-chill-filtered.

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Nose: Has some of the diesel and machine shop aroma that I remember from my previous Coleburn experience. Also lemon meringue pie. There’s a nice clover honey scent.  

Palate: Quite lemony here, which is strange for a sherry butt. The diesel sort of peat flavor is powerful. Some custard, a little prune, and orange. But mostly it’s diesel engine. Probably a refill butt, but even so not a typical sherry presentation. 

Finish: Gets a little sweeter here and the diesel is dialed back. Still a pretty industrial kind of feel. Some grapefruit, even a little peach. Graphite. Get the honey again, and some kind of cake. 

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Conclusion: Pretty odd stuff, which I guess makes sense when Coleburn was known for being experimental. Opened up nicely over time, developing more honey and pastry. Never lost the industrial feel though. Not going to make me chase down a lot of Coleburn, but an interesting one to try.  

Buy a bottle? I’m good 

Score: 82

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky. (Convalmore 36)
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category. (Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1)
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram. (Ledaig 13 Amontillado)
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff. (Tomatin 18)
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting. (Glen Scotia 15)
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better. (Aultmore 12)
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink. (Glenmorangie 10)
• 50-59: Save it for mixing. (Old Pulteney 12)
• 0-49: Blech. (Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16)