The series is called Closed Distilleries, and when the cask was selected in 2013 the name fitted precisely. Glen Keith had stood still since 1999, and a French bottling house got hold of a bourbon cask from 1995. It yielded 175 bottles.
The expert's description
Glen Keith 1995/2013 Part des Anges 17 Year Old is a Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky matured in a bourbon cask and bottled at cask strength 55.5%.
The cask was filled in 1995 and emptied in 2013 after 17 years. The bottling gave 175 bottles, non-chill filtered and with no added colour, and the whisky formed part of the Closed Distilleries series — Part des Anges' selection of whisky from distilleries that were silent or shut. The irony is that Glen Keith was started up again in 2013, the very year the bottle appeared.
Part des Anges is a French bottling house founded in 2005 by Thierry Richard and Laurent Buob. They have specialised in whisky from distilleries without a future, which has produced a set of bottles that now works rather like an archive of a period when Scotch whisky was shutting down instead of building.
Tasting notes
Nose
Concentrated and bright. Pineapple, yellow melon and vanilla pod, with a sharp orange peel on top. A cask that has had plenty of time without taking over.
Palate
Powerful and oily without being heavy. Tropical fruit, coconut and honey, with a firm peppery middle from the 55.5%. The malt sits clearly beneath it all.
Finish
Very long. Vanilla, pineapple and white pepper drying slowly into a note of pale oak.
Specifications
Name: Glen Keith 1995/2013 Part des Anges 17 Year Old Speyside Single Malt Whisky 55.5%
Distillery: Glen Keith
Bottler: Part des Anges
Region/Country: Speyside, Scotland
Type: Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 17 years
ABV: 55.5%
Size: 70 CL
Cask type: Bourbon cask
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Natural colour: Yes
Distilled: 1995
Bottled: 2013
Number of bottles: 175
Edition: Closed Distilleries
Flavour profile
Tropical · Fruity · Vanilla-sweet · Spiced · Cask Strength
Investment potential
High. 175 bottles from a single cask, a 17 year old from a distillery that sat silent for fourteen years, and a series that collects nothing but closed addresses. All three pull in the same direction, and Part des Anges bottlings are rarely seen in ordinary trade.
Did you know?
During the fourteen years Glen Keith stood silent, parts were stripped from the plant to keep other distilleries running. When the decision came to reopen, there was not much left to start from — the new distillery was in practice built inside the old walls.
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