Millburn 36 yo 1969 / 2005 Douglas Laing #DL2152 50% vs Glenburgie 40 yo 1963 / 2003 Signatory #4751 56.4%

Millburn 36 yo 1969 / 2005 Douglas Laing #DL2152 50%

Thick! Old vegetable oil and greasy grills on which cut asparagus and bittergourds slowly cook, oozing vegetal sap. Clear resin incense  rise from burners. Lit gas stoves, a smear of soot, and also the acerbic tang of piquant juice. Aromatic wood like cedar, new camphor and polished panels of oak are apparent. It is the sooty waxiness that grows, and soon the mouth is awash in warm oil, soot and wax. Some gamey aspects appear at the end. A surprisingly good whisky with much to teach the wearied drinker. 90 pts

Glenburgie 40 yo 1963 / 2003 Signatory #4751 56.4%

Lovely again, this one is buttressed by pillars of oak, bringing such gifts as gallons of clotted cream and sweet oils, rich and heavy, drizzled with honey and draped in the summery tones of poached stone fruit and tangerines. Stratospheric! Thin leather, varnish and maple sweetness attempt to counter the admittedly loud woodspice. Allspice, cinnamon, black pepper, all abuzz and prickly on the tongue, orbiting but leaving immaculate a tenderly malty core. At heart this glorious whisky remains fruity in a lemon-lime curd way; Always playfull and vibrant, and never heavy or dull. This is to me how whisky should wear old oak. 93 pts