Glenlossie 14 Year Old 2008 - Benchmark (Murray McDavid)

This is the first Glenlossie single malt we’ve had in Pour & Sip, which is perhaps unsurprising as bottlings are rare. Murray McDavid themselves hadn’t bottled one for 17 years before this rather lovely drop! It has a sister distillery, Mannochmore (which we enjoyed in the Dec 2022 set), but Glenlossie is almost a century older having been founded in 1876. Both have historically been used in Haig blends especially, and are still important to many of the most famous blended Scotch whiskies.

Far from being just a workhorse, however, blenders respect Glenlossie’s grassy, light, yet oily character created thanks to the spirit stills being equipped with purifiers. Murray McDavid, meanwhile, is an independent bottler founded thirty years ago who are known for maturing whisky in interesting wine casks, electing to finish this particular Glenlossie for almost 4 years in French oak barriques that previously held Sauternes sweet dessert wine from Bordeaux.