I tried new Glengoyne 17 year old Scottish Oak whisky - it’s a rare dram that celebrates Scotland
The third installment of the Glengoyne Oak Masters’ series is out now, and it’s an interesting whisky finds Rosalind Erskine.
Today’s rain is tomorrow’s whisky is a saying that’s well worth remembering when battling the elements on a breezy autumn afternoon. And it’s a fitting one for the launch of Glengoyne’s third Oak Masters’ whisky, a 17 year old finished for two years in rare Scottish oak casks. In order to really get into the spirit of the rolling countryside that surrounds this Highland distillery, a group of whisky enthusiasts were taken along part of the West Highland Way, back to the distillery and spent most of the time in the driving rain.
On the walk, brand ambassador Gordon Dallas entertained with stories of Scottish oak and why it’s such a rare wood these days, and the history of the landscape and smuggling all while pouring drams of Glengoyne. It wasn’t until we were all back at the distillery did we taste the newest addition to the range.
The Scottish oak used for the casks was sustainably sourced from woodland around Killearn, a village just five miles from Glengoyne distillery. Scottish oak usage remains as rare within Scotch whisky as the trees are in our landscape, and is used sparingly by only a small number of producers for finishing and experimental maturation. The wood itself is notoriously difficult to work with; it is prone to leaking, challenging to source and to cooper into casks, and this is what happened at Glengoyne.
Gordon Dallas and distillery manager Robbie Hughes explained that this isn’t the first time that Glengoyne has used Scottish oak - the first being in 2006, about four years after Edrington used Scottish oak for the first time. And the team learned from this experience.
Mr Hughes said: “The oak trees used in the 2006 whisky casks were from one of the director’s gardens, and were coopered into 11 hogshead casks, and released as a 15 year old.
“It was so spicy and we’d never used Scottish oak before so we were checking it every two or three weeks as we were scared by how spicy it was going to get. It was 13 weeks and two days we drew a line as the spicy notes were really intense. But this isn’t that. I think it’s because these oak trees are from Killearn, and the others were from a lower level so they’d impart spicier notes. Scottish oak likes to be on higher and drier ground, so this is a bit softer for maturation.
“This release is finished for two years, which is almost a second maturation and its lighter spicy notes coming through this time (in the 2026 release). We got 40 barrels from this oak, which is a lot of wood. It’s a mixture of 50/50 European and American oak with two years in Scottish oak. The initial Scottish oak casks leaked so badly initially that they needed re-coopered otherwise all the liquid would’ve been gone in a week. That’s why no one uses Scottish oak.”
As for what this troublesome sounding whisky tastes like, on the nose there’s stewed apple and honey, cereal notes and some tropical fruit while on the palate the spiciness from the oak carries through with vanilla, pepper, a sweetness of fruit but it’s the spiciness and nuttiness that carries through to the finish. It’s been well worth the effort of the teams.
Glengoyne 17 year old Scottish Oak has an RRP of £180 per 700ml bottle, bottled at 51.6% ABV. The Scottish Oak 17 Year Old will be available from the Glengoyne website and the distillery hop, alongside specialist retailers and selected bars and restaurants across the world, and is selling fast.
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