Glengoyne is bringing back its Solstice Series for a second summer, and this time there are 244 bottles to go round instead of 168. Summer Solstice No.2 is a single cask Highland single malt drawn from a 2012 first-fill bourbon barrel, bottled at 58.3% ABV, and timed to land while the longest days of the year are still long.
This is the follow-up to the 2024 release that opened the series, and it keeps the same idea: one cask, hand-picked for a bright, fruit-forward profile, released around the summer solstice and offered first to Glengoyne Family members. The distillery says it will launch in the coming weeks, with a firm date to follow.
Here are the facts up front. Summer Solstice No.2 is drawn from a single first-fill bourbon barrel, cask no. 2012, distilled in 2012 and bottled in 2026, which puts it at roughly 13 years old. It is a natural cask-strength bottling at 58.3% ABV, limited to 244 bottles, and sold through glengoyne.com to members of the Glengoyne Family. Price has not yet been confirmed.
What the Solstice Series is, and why No.2 matters
Glengoyne launched the Solstice Series in 2024 as a pair of single cask bottlings tied to the movement of the sun: a Summer Solstice in June and a Winter Solstice in December. The series grew out of a year-long solargraphy project at the distillery, where 12 pinhole cameras tracked the sun’s path across the site through sun, wind, ice and snow.
The first Summer Solstice was a 2008 bourbon barrel, cask no. 294, bottled at 59% ABV and capped at 168 bottles with a £260 RRP. It sold exclusively to Glengoyne Family members. No.2 follows the same template but with a larger outturn, which is good news for anyone who missed the first round.
What stays consistent is the cask choice. Glengoyne’s house style leans heavily on sherry, so a first-fill bourbon barrel is a deliberate step away from the distillery’s signature. Bourbon casks push vanilla, coconut and orchard fruit rather than the dried-fruit and Christmas-cake weight of sherry, and that fits the brief: summer in a glass rather than a winter warmer.
Who makes it: Glengoyne in brief
Glengoyne sits at Dumgoyne, about 14 miles north of Glasgow, and has been distilling since 1833. It is owned by Ian Macleod Distillers, one of Scotland’s independent family-owned drinks companies.
Two things define the house style. First, Glengoyne dries its barley with warm air rather than peat smoke, so there is no smoke in the spirit. Second, it claims the slowest distillation in Scotland, running its stills at a gentle pace to build a light, fruity character. There is also a geographical quirk worth knowing for international readers: the stills sit on the Highland side of the Highland Line while the maturing casks rest in warehouses across the road on the Lowland side, which is why you will see Glengoyne described as a Highland malt matured in the Lowlands.
That light, unpeated spirit is exactly the kind of base that shows off a bright bourbon cask, which is the whole point of this release.
Glengoyne Summer Solstice No.2 — tasting notes
These are the distillery’s own tasting notes. We have not tasted No.2 yet, and we will update this piece with our own impressions once a bottle is open.
Nose: warm sponge cake, pineapple, rich marzipan, grape, lemon zest, chocolate, coconut, sweet vanilla, and a floral lift of gorse in bloom
Palate: juicy pear, soft vanilla sweetness, rich oak, ripe peach, a twist of lime
Finish: long and warming, sweet oak alongside creamy pastéis de nata, with a very subtle floral note at the close
ABV: 58.3% | Cask type:first-fill bourbon barrel, cask no. 2012 Vintage: 2012 | Outturn: 244 bottles
Two of those descriptors are worth a quick gloss. Gorse is the yellow-flowering shrub you see all over the Scottish countryside, and its scent carries a warm coconut-and-vanilla note that fits a bourbon cask neatly. Pastéis de nata are Portuguese custard tarts, so read that finish as sweet, eggy and pastry-rich rather than dry oak.
How No.2 compares to No.1
| Summer Solstice No.1 (2024) | Summer Solstice No.2 (2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Vintage | 2008 | 2012 |
| Cask | First-fill bourbon barrel, no. 294 | First-fill bourbon barrel, no. 2012 |
| ABV | 59% | 58.3% |
| Outturn | 168 bottles | 244 bottles |
| Price | £260 RRP | £185 RRP |
| Profile | Vanilla, strawberry, banana, apricot, white chocolate | Pineapple, marzipan, pear, peach, custard tart |
Both are unpeated, bourbon-matured single casks built for the same summery brief. No.2 is the younger, slightly lower-strength bottling with a bigger outturn, which should make it a little easier to actually get hold of.
Price and where to buy
Summer Solstice No.2 will be sold through glengoyne.com to members of the Glengoyne Family, the distillery’s free membership programme that gives first access to its limited single casks. Glengoyne ships internationally, so readers outside the UK should be able to order directly, subject to the usual spirits-shipping restrictions for your country.
Price will be £185 RRP. For context, No.1 carried a £260 RRP for 168 bottles in 2024. With 244 bottles in this release and a comparable age, expect pricing in a broadly similar bracket, but treat that as an educated guess until Glengoyne confirms.
If you want one, the move is to make sure you are signed into the Glengoyne Family before launch day. With 244 bottles and a fixed on-sale time, the first series sold to members only, and there is no reason to expect this one to sit around.
Frequently asked questions
What is Glengoyne Summer Solstice No.2? It is the second release in Glengoyne’s Solstice Series, a single cask Highland single malt drawn from a 2012 first-fill bourbon barrel. It is bottled at cask strength, 58.3% ABV, limited to 244 bottles, and timed to launch around the 2026 summer solstice for Glengoyne Family members.
What does Glengoyne Summer Solstice No.2 taste like? Per the distillery, the nose runs to sponge cake, pineapple, marzipan, coconut and vanilla with a floral gorse lift. The palate leads on juicy pear, vanilla, oak, peach and lime, and the finish is long and warming with sweet oak and creamy custard-tart notes. It is a bright, summer-leaning bourbon-cask profile.
How much does Glengoyne Summer Solstice No.2 cost? Glengoyne will launch at £185 RRP For reference, Summer Solstice No.1 launched in 2024 at a £260 RRP for 168 bottles. No.2 has a larger outturn of 244 bottles and a similar age, so a broadly comparable price is likely, but the figure is unconfirmed until launch.
Where can I buy Glengoyne Summer Solstice No.2? It will be sold online at glengoyne.com, exclusively to members of the Glengoyne Family at launch. Membership is free, and Glengoyne ships internationally, so buyers in Europe, the US and elsewhere can usually order directly, subject to local spirits-import rules. A firm launch date is due shortly.
Is Glengoyne Summer Solstice No.2 cask strength? Yes. At 58.3% ABV it is a natural cask-strength single cask, bottled from one first-fill bourbon barrel without reduction to a lower strength. A few drops of water will open up the fruit if you find the alcohol assertive.
What is Glengoyne known for? Glengoyne is a Highland distillery near Glasgow, founded in 1833 and owned by Ian Macleod Distillers. It is known for unpeated, slowly distilled spirit dried with warm air rather than peat smoke, a sherry-led core range, and the quirk of distilling in the Highlands while maturing its casks across the road in the Lowlands.
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