A bottle kill of a stunning single cask expression from the Glasgow Distillery, in the Pot Still, Glasgow.
The Glasgow 1770 Tokaji1 Single Cask Batch 01 was a wonderful single cask offering from the Glasgow Distillery that showcased their potential to leave you thirsty for more.
Cask No. 18/969 – an ex-bourbon cask – was filled with triple distilled unpeated spirit in February 2018, then moved into a Hungarian tokaji wine cask in December 2020. Bottled in October 2021, the release was limited to 380 individually numbered bottles at 53% ABV.
The Glasgow Distillery Co. set up shop in the city a dozen years ago, taking its name from the original Glasgow Distillery Company which started operations at Dundashill, Glasgow in 1770 and went silent in the early 20th century.
It’s doing a great job of continuing the tradition.
Roadtested in the Pot Still, Glasgow
In a site that has been a pub since at least 1867 the Pot Still in Hope Street, Glasgow has been one of Scotland’s leading whisky bars for over 40 years.
Family run and independent it offers pies, pints and personality, in addition to over 1,000 whiskies. Low tables, benches and stools, a mezzanine snug and live music, it’s an old Glasgow pub of the old Glasgow pub variety, always cosy, comfortable, warm and welcoming.
If you love your whisky, if you’re searching for that special dram, or if you’re looking to explore whisky for the first time, there is no better place to do it.
The dram
Whisky
Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Bottler
Distillery
Cask
Ex-Bourbon and Tokaji Wine
Country
Scotland
Region
Lowland
Bottles
380
Chill filtered
No
Age
NAS
Colouring
No
Distillery
Glasgow
Bottled
2021
ABV
53%
Light amber, with legs shorter than an Oompa Loompa
Nose: Sweet oak, honey hints of orchard fruit infused vanilla, the promise of cask strength
Palate: Honied sweetness, sugared orchard fruits, creamy vanilla swirling in vine fruits.
Finish: Short, sweet, creamy vanilla in dry honeyed vine fruits.
Sweetfire goodness in a glass, beautifully balanced that opens up wonderfully with a few drops of water.
My only regret with the Glasgow 1770 Tokaji Cask Finish Batch 01 is that it spoiled me for the sequel – the Glasgow 1770 Tokaji Finish Batch 02.
Another excellent expression but, for me, the Small Batch stopped short of hitting the heights of this Single Cask hard-to-follow first pass.
Slàinte Mhath
2021
2021 was, of course, an interesting year.
Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese golfer to win a golf Grand Slam, Nasa flew a helicopter drone on Mars, El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as a national currency, and the proposed European Super League for football collapsed. Wildfires flared up across Greece, Joe Biden became President of the US, 3 billion people were injected with emergency Covid vaccines, Kim Jong Un inherited North Korea, a coup in Myanmar removed Aung San Suu Kyi, and scientists injected human stem cells into the embryos of monkeys to create chimera-monkeys (it couldn’t be confirmed if the scientists were fans of the seventies’ Japanese TV series Monkey.)
On a more personal note, COP26 came to town with all its hangers-on and private jets, Barack Obama went to Strathclyde Uni and Leonardo di Caprio was spotted in Maryhill, although he didn’t pop into the Viking bar for a hauf.
Footnotes:
- Tokaji is a sweet white wine from the Tokaj region of Hungary or the adjacent Tokaj region of Slovenia. ↩︎
