August 4, 2014

Glenkinchie 10, 12 and 20

There are very few different Glenkinchies around, but I’m trying hard to do at least one Glenkinchie session a year. Today’s the day.

Glenkinchie 10 yo (43%, OB, +/-1988, 75cl)

This one from a very early ‘Classic malts’ bottle. Colour: pale gold. Nose: it’s rather greasier and fatter than expected, rather far from the current Glenkinchie and certainly not similar to other Lowlanders from that time, whether lighter ones or heavier ones. Although, maybe, St Magdalene did share some similarities, such as this peculiar leafiness. I find quite a lot of walnut skin too, green apples (cider apples), a little paraffin, cosmetics (night cream?) Touches of grapefruits in the aftertaste. Mouth: leaves, grasses and bitter citrons in the arrival, then more malt and a feeling of sooty cardboard. That might be OBE. Add a few sweets, a little candy sugar and a spoonful of ashes and you get something a little… strange. Finish: short, malty, candied and grassy, all at the same time. Comments: I know some of these bottles could be excellent, but I’m afraid this one was really so-so. SGP:341 - 72 points.

Glenkinchie 12 yo (43%, OB, +/- 2013)

Colour: gold. Nose: this newer one is certainly fruitier, easier and sexier. I find more tropical fruits than in earlier Glenkinchies, for example obvious notes of mangos, which may come from some more active American oak. Not much vanilla, though. Also quite a lot of oranges and just touches of Turkish delights, rose water and all that. It seems that Glenkinchie’s been ‘pumped up’ a bit. Mouth: had I tried this blind, I’d have said ‘Midleton!’ Serious. It’s definitely got an Irish side, with this lovely fruitiness that combines oranges, mangos again, sweet malt… All that with a rather light, but certainly not weak body. I had to double-check my samples, and no, this well is Glenkinchie. Well done. Finish: short and light, just as fruity. Comments: no, the older versions aren’t always better. SGP:541 - 83 points.

And now, drum roll please…

Glenkinchie 20 yo 1966/1986 (86 US Proof, Duthie for Corti Brothers, USA)

Another super-rare bottle from the good old US of America. I’ve tried some 1966 Glenkinchie in the past, especially one by Cadenhead for the US had been rather superb (WF 90). Moon Import’s was excellent too (WF 88). All may have come from the same lot of casks. Colour: pale gold. Nose: typically old Cadenhead’s, with this sooty/metallic thing at first nosing (metal polish, old coins). After that, the fruits take off, so to speak, with mostly oranges and tangerines, zests… I also find leather cream, ‘old Barbour jacket’, cedar wood, old attic, green tea in an old earthen teapot and all that. Totally unmodern. Mouth: but this is perfect! I had feared it would be flattish – 86 US proof being only 43% vol. – but not so at all. Waxy lemons and oranges, drops of brine, old rum, green tea again, chamomile tea, cider apples and green pears, a little tobacco, a smokiness… What’s really interesting is this saltiness. Has this barrel been aged at Lagavulin? Finish: quite long, on the same aromas, for a long time. The aftertaste is a notch drying, but that’s cool. Comments: I’m rereading my notes from 2008 for the Cadenhead’s, and I don’t see why I would come up with a different score. Thank you Diego and Max! SGP:552 - 90 points.

Check the index of all Glenkinchie I've tasted so far