
August 22, 2016

A short verticale of Glenturret

Glenturret’s made in the far-east. The far-east of Scotland, that is. In my experience, it’s a singular malt, and several bottlings done in the 1980s and 1990s have been very, say eccentric, and sometimes even quite weird. But things have changed and I’ve tried some very excellent recent Glenturret. Let’s check a few more…

Glenturret 2002/2015 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail, The MacPhail’s Collection)

Colour: gold. Nose: starts with buttered parsley or something like that, goes on with some coal dust covered with lemon cream (but who would do that, S.?) and keeps going on with whiffs of damp wine cellar, with a musty side and quite some old wood. Saltpetre. A little cumin in the back of the background. Mouth: very nice, unusual and interesting, with a spicy combo that’s quite, well, unusual. Spiced chocolate (they make some excellent spiced chocolate in Spain), cloves, cracked pepper, more cumin, thyme… In fact, I’ve rarely seen this much thyme in malt whisky. The whole works well, it’s a very interesting variation on malt whisky for your bar. Finish: long given the low strength, always spicy and chocolaty. Dry, herbal, perhaps even meaty. The aftertaste is a little metallic/dusty, echoing those older bottlings that I was mentioning. Comments: a fun bottle, and I always enjoy a very different malt whisky. SGP:462 - 85 points.

Glenturret 21 yo 1994/2015 (51.6%, Creative Whisky Co., Exclusive Malts, 10th anniversary, 263 bottles)

I’d love to share a dram with… their graphic designer. Colour: pale gold. Nose: a similar start, but this time there’s more of this ink, soot, tin, and even this paraffin that was to be found in earlier bottlings. There’s this very peculiar kind of soapiness, not obligatorily unpleasant – not at all, in fact – and a lot of lamp oil, linseed oil, and perhaps a drop of fusel oil. There, you have it. With water: broken branches, fresh butter, more linseed oil… Mouth (neat): yeah well, it does have that ‘Glenturretness’. Soaped grass and herbs, lemon peel, sour juices, copper, lemon squash… It’s very unusual, to say the least. With water: the soapiness comes to the front. Finish: quite long, with much more lemon, which kind of puts it straight. Comments: the soapiness is very different from, say Bowmore’s in the 1980s, it’s much less floral, and much more ‘natural’. Or say ‘mineral’. In a way, it is an historical bottling. For malt exegetes? Completists? Rock-and-Rollers? Pete Doherty? SGP:362 - 77 points.

Glenturret 37 yo 1977/2014 (48.2%, Sansibar, 90 bottles)

Another micro-bottling. Not quite garage whisky though, garage whisky (as in garage wine) is rather what’s cooking up in Dornoch these days… Excuse me? Ah yes, Loch Ewe… Colour: gold. Nose: these are the miraculous batches. Little weird old-Glenturretness, and rather soups and stewed vegetables plus banana skin and pinesap. What’s really striking hard are guavas, those love-them-or-hate-them fruits that, well, I love. Also moss, fern, and mushrooms. Is this autumn yet? Mouth: really very unusual. More pinesap, Vicks, eucalyptus, liquorice and menthol drops, fir liqueur, Jägermeister, old wood (several, thuja, cedar, oak), hashish, citrons, natural rubber… Finish: long, still funny, and very sappy. Some kind of monk’s concoction that’s supposed to cure anything. Abbey liqueur. Straight oak in the aftertaste. Comments: certainly not catholic ;-) or kosher, but once again, these very different whiskies can be superlatively entertaining. Funny old whisky. SGP:472 - 86 points.

Hold on, while we’re at it…

Glenturret 35 yo 1977/2013 (49.2%, The Whisky Agency, Private Stock, refill hogshead, 227 bottles)

Colour: gold. Nose: a similar mentholy style, and again ideas of Vicks Vaporub, except that some perfect tropical fruits are bringing balance and easiness to the combo. Mangos, for instance. Small pink bananas as well, don’t remember their name. Hints of thuja wood as well, Moroccan artisan chessboards (yeah well), fresh hazelnuts… Perhaps a little fresh paint as well? There’s always something happening in Glenturret. Mouth: just between us, the oak’s a little too loud. Gritty tannins and overinfused green tea, grapefruit skin… Actually, the grapefruit saves it, because once the citrusy side starts to roar and sing, the oak is beating a retreat. Good! Finish: long, but the greenish oak is back. But there are also passion fruits, and indeed grapefruits. Ends up biting your lips, as if you had quaffed freshly squeezed lemon juice. Comments: hard to assess, hard to score. Rather extreme. SGP:471 - 85 points.

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