Showing posts with label Glen Deer Special Reserve 30. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Glen Deer Special Reserve 30. Show all posts

Glen Deer 30 Years Review


“Herbal Tea”

Country: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Brand: Glen Deer Special Reserve
Distilled, Blended and Matured by: William Grant & Sons
Type: Blended Malt Whisky
Contains Single Malt from: Glenfiddich and The Balvenie
Age: 30 Years 
ABV: 40% 
Chill-Filtration: Likely
Buying Advice: 😷 Negative. Tastes like Medicinal Herbal Tea. Good Nose though. It's not expensive.

“Whisky Review # 600”

Colour: Golden Amber (Probably Artificially Coloured)

Nose: The Ex-Sherry Cask influence is quite clear. My first impression is that this Blended Malt probably contains more Glenfiddich than Balvenie. I do get a bit of Sulphur as well but nothing serious. The Nose is basically Sweet and Medium Full. This Malt should probably have been bottled at Cask-Strength to enhance the Aromas. On the Nose, this Glen Deer 30 Years has all the characteristics of a Single Malt that you would appreciate around Christmas time or after a nice dinner in combination with a Medium-Strong Cigar. I find Toasted Barley, Buttered Toast, Dusty Straw, X-mas Cake, a Mix of Dried Fruits (like Raisins and Apricot) and Nuts, Brown Sugar, Vanilla, Honey, Orange, Strawberry, slightly Sour Apples, Wood Shavings, Cinnamon, Ginger, Mint and hints of Furniture Polish and Dusty Road.

Palate: Slightly Thin Delivery on account of the low ABV. On the Palate, the Glen Deer is mainly Sweet with some Oaky, Herbal and Sour notes as well. It's quite disappointing after the good enough Nose. I find Toasted Barley, Toffee, Raisins, slightly Bitter Almonds, Vanilla, Honey, Orange, Strawberry, Herbal Tea, Pepper, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Aniseed, Ginger, Clove, Licorice and stale Coffee.

Finish: Not very Long, slightly Spicy, Bitter-Sweet, Herbal and Oaky. Quite Dry in the end with a strange Off-Note I can't quite place. An odd mixture of Oak, Metal, Herbal Tea and Green notes. This does not work for me at all. I also find Toasted Barley, Nuts, Orange, Honey, Pepper, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Licorice, Aniseed and Cocoa Powder.  

Added Water does not improve this Glen Deer. On the Palate and in the Finish I keep on being punished with this Herbal Tea Flavour. You know, the one that people use to lose weight.

Rating: 81.5   

Nose: 21.5 - Taste: 20.5 - Finish: 19 - Overall: 20.5


General Remarks:

The Glen Deer 30 Years is a special expression made by William Grant & Sons for the French market. In the meantime you can buy it elsewhere as well. Glen Deer is a Blend of Single Malts from Glenfiddich and the Balvenie. The Malts for this Blend were distilled in May, 1980. They matured in a mix of Ex-Bourbon and Ex-Sherry casks before being married and bottled in 2012. Therefore this Glen Deer has in fact over 30 Years. It's still available in places. Prices are likely to be in the 80-100 US Dollar range (March 2017). Quite cheap for a whisky of this age. 

The Glenfiddich (Gaelic for Valley of the Deer) Distillery was founded in 1886 by William Grant. It's still owned by the Grant Family today and Glenfiddich is the world's best selling Single Malt. The standard distillery range consists of the 12, 15 and 18 Years.

Glenfiddich (May 2014)

The Balvenie distillery was founded in Dufftown in 1892 by William Grant. It is still in the hands of the Grant family. The Balvenie lies at the heart of the Grant's Family Reserve Blend.

Drinking Experience Neat: The Nose is okay but Palate and Finish are quite disappointing.

Conclusion: I choose this 30 Year Old blended Malt to be my 600th Review as I expected something special. It is special but not entirely in a positive way. The Nose is quite okay and suggests your typical sherried Speysider. The Palate and Finish however are quite disappointing. I suspect indifferent cask-management. I am constantly reminded of Herbal Tea that is used to help people lose weight. A worthy cause certainly but not a Flavour I want to encounter in my Malt. Based on the Nose alone, this Glen Deer has an excellent Price/Quality ratio. Based on Palate and Finish however there is no way I can recommend this Blended Malt. Unless of course you got hooked on this Flavour in your latest effort to fight the extra kilos.                      
Jan van den Ende                                                                      March 6, 2017

The Balvenie (May 2014)