And another week of reviews of single casks from Speyside distilleries bottled for K&L comes to an end, once again with the oldest of the set: a 28 yo Glen Keith. On the first go around earlier this month the oldest—a Tamdhu 20—was the one I liked the least. Considering that I was quite underwhelmed by this Monday’s Benrinnes 23 and only barely whelmed by Wednesday’s Hector Macbeth/Glenfiddich 23, I’m rooting hard for this week to have a different ending. There’s some hope here in that I liked the last two 20+ yo Glen Keiths I reviewed (one a 21 yo from Single Malts of Scotland and another a 22 yo from Archives). Let’s see if that hope is borne out.

Glen Keith 28, 1993 (56.9%; OMC for K&L; refill barrel; from a bottle split)

Nose: Malt and apples and mild notes of citrus and oak. On the second sniff there’s some pineapple and waxy lemon peel and then it gets a bit biscuity. In the same vein with time and air. With a few drops of water the malt expands and the fruit gets muskier.

Palate: Leads with a little more oak here but otherwise it’s as promised by the nose. Quite approachable neat with a full texture. Maltier with time with a lot more of the waxy lemon and then some white pepper. Not much change after that. Let’s see what water does for it. Water pushes the oak and pepper back and makes the fruit sweeter.

Finish: Long. Oh very nice: a few beats after I swallow the fruit gets more tropical with the pineapple expanding and ripening; a touch of makrut lime leaf as well. The white pepper lingers here as well. Less peppery and sweeter here too with water.

Comments: Well, this was a very good end to what had so far been an underwhelming week. A good fruity Glen Keith that displays the balance and development you’d want to go to an older malt for. A little more of the tropical fruit and this would have been in the next tier.

Rating: 88 points