Glen Garioch 1990 Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Highland (Eastern)

Brand: Glen Garioch 1990 (KIW - Kintra Whisky)

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age: 20 Years

ABV: 49.6 %

Colour: Pale White Wine. Almost a transparent light Green. It's the first time I see a whisky with this colour profile.

Nose: Malty, Floral, Fruity and Salty! Very Fresh for a 20 year old whisky. Give it some time when Nosing because there is some Vegetative Sulphur present at first. Malt, Buttered Toast, Tea, Heather and Apple Juice are my first impressions. A bit of Driftwood, Honey, Lemon-Pepper, Aniseed and a whiff of Smoke. The Alcohol is nicely integrated.

Palate: Malty and Lemony with Malt, Tea and Milk, Lemon-Pepper, Cloves, Wood and Aniseed. Slightly Bitter-Sweet. It's okay I guess but I would have expected a bit more complexity of this 20 Year Old Single Malt.

Finish: Middle Long, Malty and Mineral. Sweet at First and Dry towards the end with Sweet Barley, Apple, Lemon-Pepper, Wood and Cloves.

I added a bit of Water and Malt, Fruity and Floral Tones start to dominate the Nose even more. I get a bit more Smoke as well. Palate and Finish become quite Spicy and Lemony. You can experiment with a few drops.

Rating: 82.

Nose: 21- Taste: 20.5 - Finish: 20.5 - Overall: 20.5

General Remarks: The Glen Garioch Distillery is located in Aberdeenshire and was founded in 1797 by John and Alexander Manson. Nowadays it is owned by Morison Bowmore Distillers, part of the Japanese Suntory Group. The Glen Garioch we are tasting today was distilled in July 1990 and bottled at Cask Strength by Independent Bottler Kintra Whisky (Deventer, the Netherlands) in May 2011. It matured in a Bourbon Hogshead with Cask # 5873 out of which 96 bottles were reserved by Whiskybase from Rotterdam. The whisky is not chill-filtered and naturally coloured. It costs around 125 US Dollars. Availability is limited. 

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: This Glen Garioch is quite Fresh and Clean for a 20 Year Old. Certainly not a very complex whisky. If you like a crisp Malty dram with Tea, Lemon-Pepper, Apples and Aniseed you might enjoy this Single Malt. I have to say it's not quite my cup of Tea and I would not consider this Glen Garioch as my daily dram. However, when I run out of Calvados I might consider drinking it from time to time between the courses of a nice dinner.   

Jan van den Ende                                                                     July 31, 2013

Longrow Peated Review

Country: Scotland

Region: Campbeltown

Brand: Longrow Peated

Type: Single Malt Whisky 

Age:  NAS (My Guess: 5-10 Years)

ABV: 46 %

Date: 29/07/2013

Colour: Golden Hay

Nose: To be honest I was expecting massive aggressive Peat but that's not the case. Sure, the Peat is there but it's in the company of Vanilla, Leather, Mineral and Maritime tones, Ashes, Malt, Oak, Menthol, Citrus, Buttered Toast, Pepper and hints of Salted Bacon, Plastic/Rubber and Sulphur. 

Palate: Slightly Thinner than I expected with Sweet Peat, Black Pepper, Ashes, Iodine, Soot, Malt, Oak, Honey, Black Coffee, Caramel, Mint, Lemon and a light sprinkle of Salt.

Finish: Quite Long and for me the best part of this Longrow. Sugary Sweet at first but Dry towards the end. It's a combination of Sweet Barley, Peat, Ashes, Soot, Tobacco, Oak, Black Coffee, Vanilla, Black Pepper, Mint, Iodine and a hint of Plastic.

I added a bit of Water and the Nose becomes more Malty and slightly less Peaty. On the Palate it really gets Sugary Sweet and the Plastic and Mint rule the Finish. Better sip it neat! 

Rating: 85

Nose: 21 - Taste: 21 - Finish: 21.5  - Overall: 21.5

General Remarks: The Longrow peated Single Malt is produced at the Springbank Distillery. In 1973, Springbank started a project that would try to produce a peated Islay type of whisky on the Scottish mainland. The name of the project was Longrow, named after the old Longrow distillery that was located close to Springbank. In 1990 the first peated Longrow appeared on the market. It is the successor of the Longrow CV. It is distilled twice and the Barley is dried with Peat Smoke for around 48 hours. Casks of different origin are used to mature this whisky. It is not chill-filtered and no Caramel is added. It is priced roughly between 50 and 70 US Dollars.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: It's not a bad Single Malt but I find it lacking Fruit. I think this Longrow might benefit if more Ex-Sherry Casks would be used. Or would receive a Sherry or Wine Finishing. I liked the 11 Years Red Cabernet Sauvignon finished Longrow. I'm not too fond of the Plastic off note as well. I don't think it matches the Islay peated whiskies. There are not enough Maritime, Beefy, BBQ and Campfire notes to be found. And without them and without sufficient Fruit or Sherry to counter the Peat, this Longrow somehow tastes " Unfinished".  

  

Jan van den Ende                                       July 29, 2013 and March 30, 2017