Glen Talloch Review



Country: Scotland 
Brand: Glen Talloch Rare & Old
Type: Blended Scotch Whisky
Age: NAS
ABV: 40 %
Date: 09/10/2013

Colour: Yellow Gold

Nose: All the features of a young Bottom Shelf Blend. I find sharp Grain Alcohol, Green Refill Oak and Wood Chips, Burnt Sugar/Caramel, Pepper and Malt. And then some light Smoke, Tar, Nut Casks, Burnt Toast and Margarine, Lemon Peel and Rubber. A Hint of Gooseberries.

Palate: Rather Thin Delivery but nevertheless somewhat better than I had expected after the indifferent Nose. I get Cereals, Caramel, Pepper, slightly Bitter Wood, light Smoke, Vanilla, Honey, Rubber, light Licorice and Grain Alcohol.

Finish: Short, Sugary Sweet and somewhat Bitter with Sugar, Grain Alcohol, Pepper and Wood. Some Alcohol Burn at the end.

With some added Water, the Nose becomes less Sharp. But on the Palate and in the Finish it really doesn't taste like whisky anymore. 

Rating: 70.5

Nose: 17.5 - Taste: 18 - Finish: 17.5 - Overall: 17.5


General Remarks: This Blend is a mixture of Grain - and around 15 Single Malt whiskies (30%) including Balblair, Knockdhu, Aberfeldy, Pulteney, Craigellachie and Speyburn which have aged for at least 5 years. The Glen Talloch is mainly sold in the Netherlands (Boomsma) where it's one of the best selling Blends, generally used in Mixed Drinks. There are two other expressions, the 8 Years Blended Malt and the 12 Years Gold. The Rare & Old is very cheap at around 18 US Dollars per litre.

Drinking Experience Neat: Below Average

Conclusion: This is not a Blend I would recommend unless you only use Whisky for Mixing Purposes. Still I would suggest to try a cheap Bourbon instead. They taste better and their sweetness combines better with Coke or something similar. What a pity that so much Single Malt whisky is lost in a sea of indifferent Grain Whiskies to produce Blends like this!  

Jan van den Ende                                                           October 2013

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks ,pretty much honest n direct opinion . Will stick with bourbon .

Jan van den Ende said...

Hi there, thanks for commenting. Sorry for the late reply but I was traveling! Most standard Bourbons have a better Price/Quality ratio than standard Scotch Blended Whisky. So if you like the Bourbon taste better go for that. Cheers, Jan.🥃