Est. 1833 • Dumgoyne, Stirlingshire, Highlands

Glengoyne

"Unhurried since 1833"

Glengoyne is a Highland single malt made at the foot of Dumgoyne hill, just north of Glasgow, where the distillery sits on the Highland Line while its warehouses lie across the road in the Lowlands. It is unpeated by choice: the barley is air-dried rather than dried over peat, so there is no smoke to hide behind. Instead the character comes from slow distillation and a heavy reliance on sherry casks, giving a house style of orchard fruit, toffee and warm spice.

1833

Founded

Highlands

Region

None

Peat

Sherried

House Style

The Unpeated Highlander

Where Glengoyne sits in the Highland picture

Glengoyne has stood at the foot of Dumgoyne hill since 1833, a short drive north of Glasgow. The distillery sits right on the Highland Line, so the whisky is made in the Highlands while its warehouses rest across the road in the Lowlands. It is a quiet, green spot, and the whisky reflects it.

What sets Glengoyne apart is what it leaves out. The barley is air-dried rather than dried over peat fires, so there is no smoke in the spirit at all. To make up for that, the distillery runs its stills slowly and leans hard on sherry casks. The result is Highland whisky in its fruity, sherried register: green apple and toffee when young, stewed fruit, raisin and dark spice as the sherry influence grows with age.

To place Glengoyne among its neighbours, read our guide to the whisky regions of Scotland and browse the wider Scotch whisky catalogue.

The Sherry Ladder

How the core Glengoyne bottlings sit against each other, everyday to special occasion

The everyday start

Glengoyne 10 Year Old

The house style at its cleanest. Green apple, toffee and a hint of nuts over a soft, unpeated body. An easy Highland dram and the bottle to begin with.

The sherry deepens

Glengoyne 12 & 15 Year Old

More time in sherry oak brings stewed orchard fruit, raisin and gentle spice. Rounder and richer than the 10, still bright at its core.

The mature middle

Glengoyne 18 Year Old

Sherry-cask maturation turns the fruit dark and sweet, with dried fig, toffee and oak. A fuller, more contemplative pour.

The special-occasion Glengoyne

Glengoyne 21 & 25 Year Old

Decades in first-fill sherry casks layer candied fruit, dark chocolate and warm spice into a long, waxy finish. Scarce, and priced for the occasion.

How to Drink It

Glengoyne rewards a little patience. Pour the 10 or 12 Year Old neat or with a few drops of water and let the sherried fruit open up. With no smoke to compete, it also mixes cleanly, try it long over ice in a fruity Highball, or in a whisky sour where the toffee and orchard notes carry the drink. Keep the older sherry bottlings for sipping slowly, no mixer needed.