“You’re
Not The One That I Want”
Country: Scotland
Region: Highland (Eastern)
Brand: Glen Garioch 1990 (Whiskybase First Release Archives)
Type: Single Malt Whisky
Age: 21 Years
ABV: 54%
Colour: Pale White Wine (Natural Colour)
Nose: Malty, Lemony, Dusty and a little Salty. I find Malt, lightly Buttered Toast, Cereals, Heather-Honey, Cooked Vegetables, Toffee, light Vanilla, Wet Paper, Wet Straw, Charred Oak, Green Grapes, Green Apple, Lemon, very light Peat, Herbs, light Leather, Nuts, Mint-Chocolate, Aniseed, light Pepper, Cardamom, Ginger and Salt. The Alcohol is relatively strong and not fully integrated.
Palate: Strong Delivery. The Alcohol, Wood and Spices are very present. On the Palate this Glen Garioch is Bitter-Sweet and a bit Edgy. It could certainly do with more Fruity Flavours. I find Malt, Cereals, Nuts, Wax, Caramel, Lemon, Plums,
Strong Bitter Tea, Green Apple, light Vanilla, very light Peat, Pepper, Cloves, Salt, Licorice, Aniseed, Ginger and hints of Leather and Wet Sand.
Strong Bitter Tea, Green Apple, light Vanilla, very light Peat, Pepper, Cloves, Salt, Licorice, Aniseed, Ginger and hints of Leather and Wet Sand.
Finish: Middle-Long, Bitter-Sweet, Dusty, Mineral and Woody. Quite Dry towards the end. The Alcohol is a bit Fiery. I find Sweet Barley, Caramel, Strong Tea, Espresso, Heather-Honey, Green Apple, Citrus (Lemon and Orange), Dry Earth, very light Peat and Ashes, Wet Stone, Charred Oak, light Menthol, Licorice, Herbs, Pepper, Salt and Cloves. A very distant hint of Smoked Meat.
I only had a small sample at my disposal. Not enough to try it both neat and with added Water.
Rating: 81
Nose: 20.5 - Taste: 20 - Finish: 20 - 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 Single Cask we are tasting today was distilled on the 28th of December 1990 and bottled at Cask Strength by Independent Bottler Whiskybase, located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on the 5th of January 2011. It matured in an Ex-Bourbon Hogshead with Cask # 252 out of which 267 bottles were reserved for Whiskybase. The whisky is not chill-filtered. It was sold at around 80 US Dollars but it will be very difficult to find at this point in time.
Drinking Experience Neat: Okay
Conclusion: I must admit this Glen Garioch is not at all my style. It's quite Musty and I miss Fresh Fruity notes. The Wood, Spice and Alcohol are very dominant this way. To be honest, I believe the Spirit has overstayed its time in the cask. I also feel the ABV is a bit too strong for this Spirit. All in all I found this Tasting Session quite disappointing. I'm glad I didn't buy a full bottle!
Jan van den Ende April 4, 2016
2 comments:
Dear Jan,
what a pity. You seem to be really disappointed with this Glen Garioch.
So far I had the "Founder's Reserve" (NAS)which I found quite good and the current 12yo OB which I really liked: its non-chilfiltered, natural colour and comes at an ABV of 48% also the price is very fair (at least in Germany). It is a mixture of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks; given the natural colour quiet a few of these should be first fill.
Hence, I was very excited about your review but absiously this version did not meet your expactations at all.
All the best
Björn
Hi Bjorn, thanks for your reaction. In the meantime I have found that independent bottlings can be either very good or disappointing. In this case I clearly found that the Spirit was not strong enough for 21 years of cask. The wood and wood spices clearly dominate. Reading your reaction it might well be that Glen Garioch is better at a younger age. I will try to find out!
Cheers!
Jan
Post a Comment