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

UD 2005 KIW Review

Country: Scotland 

Region: Highland

Brand: UD 2005 Third Confidential Cask (KIW - Kintra Whisky)

Type: Single Malt Whisky

Age: 7 Years

ABV: 51.6 %

Date: 06/06/2013

Colour: Dark Golden

Nose: This is a relatively young whisky and it's bottled at Cask Strength so the Alcohol is very present all along the way. On the Nose I find Malt, lightly Buttered Grain Biscuits, Toffee, Burnt Sugar, Honey, Sherry, Citrus, light Fruit (Pear, Apricot), light Wood Spices and some Green Wood. It's not bad but it would have benefited greatly from additional years in the cask.

Palate: Sweet yet slightly Bitter as well with Toffee/Caramel, light Licorice, Pepper and Green Oak.

Finish: Short. Initially Sweet with Caramel and Burnt Sugar but Dry towards the end with Wood, Pepper and a hint of Espresso.

I added a bit of Water and the Alcohol is of course subdued. Malt, Honey, Toffee and Fruit reveal themselves more clearly. Palate and Finish don't change a lot but in this case I advise you to add a bit of Water as the Alcohol notes are really strong otherwise.

Rating: 78

Nose: 20 - Taste: 19.5 - Finish: 19 - Overall: 19.5 

General Remarks: This Undisclosed Highland Single Malt was distilled in September 2005 and bottled at Cask Strength by Independent Bottler Kintra Whisky (Deventer, the Netherlands) in October 2012. It matured in an Ex-Sherry Butt with Cask # 900161 out of which 143 bottles were reserved by Kintra. The whisky is non-chillfiltered and naturally coloured. It costs around 70 US Dollars but I'm not sure if it's still available.

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good

Conclusion: I have read somewhere that this Whisky could have been distilled at Glenmorangie or Balblair. I'm not familiar with the latter but I can't find the distinct Glenmorangie Oranges. If this whisky would have been served in a Blind Tasting event I would not have been able to identify it. The Honey and Fruit would have given it away as a Highlander but that's about it. I'm not (yet) impressed by the UD 2005. The Nose is promising but needs more Wood time. Palate and Finish are pretty generic and not at all complex. The Alcohol is way too dominant. I would love to taste this again as a 15 year old though. So back to the cask with you young man!

Jan van den Ende                                                                        June 2013