The two extremes of Glen Moray

August 27, 2013

The two extremes of Glen Moray.
Make that three.

Glen Moray, yet another name that's more to be heard of within the chatting whisky circles, while just ten years ago, it was almost only fodder for lower shelves. I'll always remember that Stuart Thomson, ex-Ardbeg and ex-Glen Moray, used to say that Glen Moray was his favourite tipple. Let's try to find why...

Glen Moray 17 yo 1995/2012 (46%, Carn Mor, Strictly Limited, 610 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: whah! Plain porridge, malt, leaven, baker's yeast and then cut apples and maybe gooseberries plus just touches of vanilla and white chocolate. And hints of overripe pears. Oh and cardboard. Raw and young, not very interesting I must say, pretty poor and cheapo blending stock. Well, it must have been cheap. Mouth: sweet raw malt whisky like they have millions of litres over there in Bonnie Scotland. Schweppes, lemon zests, apples, bread, oatcakes, grass. Did I mention Schweppes? Finish: of medium length, on Schweppes. No that wasn't product placement, we don't do product placement yet. Comments: Iggy Pop would have shouted 'I'm' bored'. It's not bad whisky at all, so I won't go below 70, but it's just totally, completely and utterly uninteresting. Yawn... SGP:341 - 70 points.

Glen Moray 1991/2013 (57.5%, Svenska Eldvatten, hogshead, 270 bottles)

Colour: pale gold. Nose: whah again! But this time it's very different, it's a very grassy one, with hay and oils (maybe sunflower and such), then many beers, ales, herbs and leaves. A lot of fresh putty is arising too, marzipan, wet paint and then a dry spice mix, a little oriental (whatever that means). It's not easy at all but it's very intriguing. Water is needed. With water: phew, it became kind of cooler and gentler, but remains very grassy. Some fresh butter too, hay, a little earth, fresh walnuts... Remains austere but pleasantly so. Mouth: ha! Very singular, very powerful, starting with very heavy notes of pepper, ginger and cumin. French oak, by any chance? It's actually very bitter, just like some successful liqueurs are bitter (the infernal trio Unicum, Jaegermeister, Underberg). Heavy citrus too. Quite extreme so far, let's see what water does to it again. With water: lemon up, resins down but it remains resinous. Fortified retsina wine? This is amusing because the colour is light, so this cannot be high oak extraction, can it? But yeah, its gentler when watered down. Also nice honeydew, liquorice wood... Finish: long and, good news, rather smoother. No feeling of 'heavy chlorophyll' that kills your palate - because mind you, we have a glory yet to taste! Comments: it's an extreme grassy/herbal one and so it's very unusual and really worth trying. I'd call this an anti-beginner's whisky, if you agree. SGP:271 - 85 points.

Glen Moray 25 yo 1959/1984 (46%, Samaroli, sherry hogshead, 240 bottles)

Always a thrill to taste very rare whisky that was born before me. Barely! Amazing colour. Colour: dark mahogany or even ristretto coffee. Even Loch Dhu 10 was paler. Nose: sweet Vishnu! This is extraordinary and maybe also because of the very dark colour, it reminds me of the old Highland Park 40yo black ceramic. Like many old wonders, it starts with displaying only notes of some rich Christmas cake, but then it does the 'peacock's tail', like if that (stupid) cake would have exploded into myriads of smaller aromas. We're talking very old Demerara rum, we're talking dried fruits (absolutely all of them, raisins and prunes first), we're talking oils and waxes and we're talking honeys and teas. It's absolutely splendid and I think I'll leave it at that as far as the nose is concerned, it's too early to call the anti-maltoporn brigade anyway. Just one thing, it's dominantly sappy/waxy/resinous. Mouth: sweet Jesus! There's this heavy, almost chestnutty (!) and coffeeish oak that strikes first, but then it's a whole movie, with citrons, verbena and other citrusy/minty herbs, oranges, sultanas, bitter chocolate, prunes, black pepper, (very) strong liquorice, cinnamon... It's all quite dry and even a tiny-wee notch drying, with this feeling of walnut stain (the colour again, maybe autosuggestion, hard to resist). Oh and bags and bags of cocoa powder that 'sticks to your tongue'. Finish: long, very chocolaty. Very, very chocolaty. Menthol and blackcurrants in the aftertaste. Comments: this was bottled by Duthie's/Cadenhead's after careful selection by signor Samaroli. No wonder. SGP:562 - 93 points. (with thanks to Diego at Lion's Whisky)

Check the index of all Glen Moray I've tasted so far