The 1983 Glenesk 20 year Duncan Taylor hails from a distillery that has had a bit of an identity crisis over the years having had 4 other names in it’s lifetime. Highland Esk, Hillside, North Esk and Montrose (which sounds more Canadian than Scottish). Glenesk started life as a mill and then in 1897 it was converted to a distillery and occupied a valley in Montrose (eastern Highlands) that was, at one point, home to 4 distilleries – all of which are now closed except Glencadam.
This little distillery had quite the interesting life and to make sure I hit all of the salient points I’ve laid it out in chronological bullets below.
- 1897 converted from a mill to a distillery and named Glen Esk
- 1899 bought by J. F. Caille Heddle and name changed to North Esk Distillery
- 1914 closed during WW1
- 1938 reopened as a grain whisky distillery and name changed to Montrose
- 1954 bought by DCL (Distillers Company Limited)
- 1954 – 1964 went by either North Esk or Glenesk, not sure which (maybe both?)
- 1964 transferred to SMD (Scottish Malt Distillers – former DCL subsidiary), converted back to a malt distillery and name changed to Hillside
- 1973 William Sanderson & Sons Ltd took over license to distill (Vat 69 whisky)
- 1980 name changed back to Glenesk
- 1985 closed in December
- 1992 SMD cancelled the distilling license
- 1996 everything was demolished except the maltings which were sold to Paul’s Malt Ltd. who were bought by Greencore
- 2010 Axereal bought Greencore and now owns the maltings
(timeline via Malt Madness)
1983 Glenesk 20 year Duncan Taylor Info
Region: Highlands, Scotland
Distiller: Glenesk (1897 – 1983)
Mashbill: 100% malted barley
Age: 20 years
ABV: 58.4%
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Cask: 4928
Bottle: 1616
Price: NA – Auction
1983 Glenesk 20 year Duncan Taylor Review
EYE
Pear juice
NOSE
There is a musty raw grain character that permeates the dram that’s combined with an essence of boiled meat, bubblegum, old grass (think compost pile) and a watery tropical fruit. It’s a truly awful aroma and if the palate didn’t help it recover this would be a flat out F.
PALATE
Tart green tropical fruit comes first accompanied by some wet wood, alkaline, burnt toffee and menthol. Lack luster and not wholly pleasing in it’s showing, but at least it didn’t taste like boiled meat.
FINISH
Short and astringent with notes of burnt… something, musty wood and tart green fruit.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Balance does not dwell here. It has a full body, but comes across hot and abrasive.
OVERALL
The 1983 Glenesk 20 year Duncan Taylor is awful. What few not-terrible notes exist were lack luster and didn’t compensate for the menagerie of terrible flavors and aromas that were happening in that glass. I’m sure they made some great stuff in the past, but this was not one of the good barrels. If I were to sum it up in Los Angeles real estate terms it would be putrid-adjacent.
SCORE: 60-33/100 (range given since it was not tasted at home)
