
June 22, 2016

A few Glengoyne

Many Glengoynes on the tasting table, so let’s try to be sensible. And perhaps start with a very young one that should be totally spirit-driven…

Glengoyne 7 yo 2007/2014 (46%, Douglas Laing, Provenance, cask #10566)

Could this be an infanticide, as some used to say quite some years ago? It’s true that better a 7 than an NAS! Colour: extremely pale white wine. Nose: we’re close to new make, young Kirschenwasser, unripe gooseberries, pears, grass, apple peelings… It’s interesting, especially the absence of any phenolic touches (Glengoyne’s totally un-peated), but it’s almost not aged spirit. Mouth: sweet and rounded, clean, all on ripe apples and pears. One of the simplest forms of malt whisky, younger than that is plain barley. Very few fermentary notes, though. Finish: medium, more barleyish. Pear juice with crushed barley inside. Comments: maybe the limits of the concept. I’d rather imagine this kind of baby within some kind of tasting class, but as some bottled malt whisky? No sure. SGP:530 - 72 points.

And he insists…

Glengoyne 7 yo 2007/2014 (46%, Hepburn’s Choice, 407 bottles)

Probably in the same family ;-). Colour: same, just a wee notch darker, which is still very pale. Nose: a tad rounder, with ‘ideas’ of vanilla and honey, and a little more porridge. As a consequence, I’m finding rather less pears and apples – let alone kirsch – which may suggest that this a little less immature. Mouth: extremely similar. Nah, undistinguishable. Maybe a tad more barleyish, with a little more coffee and vanilla, as if the cask had been a little more active. Indeed, stuff for masterclasses. Finish: notes of gooseberries and rhubarb. Perhaps grapefruits. Comments: I liked it a little bit better, but I wouldn’t make it my desert island dram. SGP:540 - 74 points.

Good, those were better than a kick in the teeth, but I think we’re ready for some serious Glengoyne…

Glengoyne 13 yo 2000/2014 (46%, Berry Bros & Rudd, cask #1073)

Yes I’m behind with my Glengoynes… Colour: gold. Nose: sherry. Shortbread, praline, milk chocolate, café latte, panettone, raisins, and whiffs of used matches. You may call that sulphur, but we’re way below the limits. Mouth: very good. To be honest I wasn’t sure about the nose, but all these roasted nuts and these toasted breads and pastries are excellent. Brioche, French toast, speculoos… Too bad there’s also a gingery oaky feeling in the background, with a little too much caraway and cloves. Finish: medium, spicier. Mulled wine spices, cloves, French oak, ginger, eating pencil shavings… Comments: some great sides, and two or three asperities that I didn’t like too much. Especially the sulphur and the pencil shavings. SGP:551 - 76 points.

Glengoyne 12 yo 2001/2013 (46%, Sansibar, sherry, 216 bottles)

In theory, Glengoyne loves sherry! Colour: gold. Not first fill. Nose: it’s a leathery kind of sherry, with walnuts and bicycle inner tubes. This style has fans, not only within the Tour de France crowd. Engine oil, leatherette, tobacco… Very dry style! Mouth: not 100% sure. Walnut cake and rubber bands, cracked pepper, walnut wine, artichokes, ginger ale… It’s this kind of ultra-dry sherry that’s totally great in sherry, but that may dry-up malt whisky, at times. Unless you’re a member of the Keepers of the Walnuts, of course. Finish: rather long, leafy and leathery, dry, a little bitter. Jägermeister and Unicum, 50/50. Comments: in fact I like it, but I find it very ‘segmenting’. Or un-consensual, if you will. SGP:371 - 80 points.

Glengoyne 1997/2013 (54.6%, Malts of Scotland, bourbon, cask #MoS 13020, 211 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: there’s something with bicycle tyres these days. I know this ought to be bourbon, but I do find sulphur, and even whiffs of town gas. MoS had many great Glengoynes, so maybe it’s just a lame duck? Let’s give it time… zzz zzz zzz… No, nothing. Eh? With water: no. Plastic bag and saltpetre. Bourbon, really? Mouth (neat): better – not quite an achievement – but I do find a little rubber, beyond the ginger and the bitterish oak. What saves it is the orangey side. Great blood oranges. With water: okay. Ginger, bitter oranges, grass, ginger, pepper. Finish: medium, bitterish, grassy, a little rubbery. Comments: it’s bizarre, this is rather un-Malts of Scotland. Average, in my opinion, MoS had around 250,000 better Glengoynes (always in my opinion). SGP:361 - 74 points.

I agree, we may need the official cavalry…

Glengoyne 10 yo 2000/2011 (59.8%, OB, sherry butt, cask #1181, 621 bottles)

Colour: coffee. Nose: ah yes! Raw, pungent, with some heavy chocolaty sherry and bags of pencil shavings. This baby doesn’t go in for subtleties, and it’s even one of these sherried whiskies that are actually closer to heavy bourbon (oak galore), but it’s so spectacular that you just cannot be against it. With water: oak, at a carpenter’s, raw cocoa, and hints of mud, all for the better. Mouth (neat): huge, extremely rich, and quite curiously, rather balanced. Bitter oranges, marmalade, Corinth raisins, and ginger liqueur. That the distillate had anything to say is questionable, but the cask was terrific. With water: swims like a champ. Ginger and orange liqueur plus chocolate and praline. Finish: long, a tad peppery, gingery… Comments: an excellent cask. Again, not sure the spirit was important, but only the results count. SGP:551 - 87 points.

Glengoyne 15 yo 1989/2004 (55.8%, OB for Corman-Collins, Belgium, cask #1219, 264 bottles)

Colour: dark amber. Nose: yeah. Old armagnac, prunes, raisins, earth, liquorice, precious woods, soy sauce, pipe tobacco… There’s nothing not to like. Superb (yes we’re keeping this short). With water: saltpetre, brake pads, concrete, pencil lead, old magazines and books… I’m stunned. Mouth (neat): amazingly rich, armagnacqy, prune-y, raisiny, chocolaty, old-style, extremely old-Speyside-y… It doesn’t get much better than this, if you ask me. With water: tinier herbal notes, the usual walnuts, paraffin, plasticine, French beans, Jerusalem artichokes, Jamaican rum… What’s the trick? Finish: endless, rich, and yet dry and straight… Exceptional leathery and tobacco-ish notes. Comments: to think that I needed twelve years before I tried this magnificent sherried Glengoyne! I may rebrand this website ‘whiskysnail.com’. SGP:472 - 92 points.

A last one, let’s make it an old one…

Glengoyne 1967/1992 (43%, OB, Christmas day, 2500 bottles)

Yes I know, we should have published this on Christmas day since it was distilled on Dec 25, 1967, but we just needed an old Glengoyne to call this a proper tasting session. I know you understand. Colour: gold. Nose: let’s wait… It whispers and it speaks low, so after the sherry bombs, you have to be careful. Yeah, there, it’s waking up, with aromatic herbs such as verbena, fennel, or wormwood, as well as a little ‘artisan’ custard, vanilla cream (what we used to call crème anglaise before the Brexit issues – oh the ravages of consanguinity!), poppy seeds, liquorice wood… In truth it’s a little fragile, and even shy, but one can feel that there’s a lot of complexity. Mouth: ho-ho-ho, it’s a beehive-y old one, with various very old white wines (old Montrachet, if you will) and the subtlest form of honeyness (RU sure that’s English?) Some kind of old mead, perhaps, artisan apple juice, quince juice… It’s just that the oak – and it’s only around 25 years of age – tends to get in the way. Yeah, 43% vol., that may have been the problem. Finish: perhaps a little short and too tea-ish. The 43% vol. again. Comments: well, if you bottle old whiskies at 43% vol., you need totally superior casks. That’s why Macallan got so lousy these days, and tenfold overpriced. Just and opinion of course… But yeah, I know, this is Glengoyne. SGP:451 - 88 points.

(With thanks to Hubert, Phil, and Simon)

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