
January 2, 2019

Four official Glen Garioch

Shall we find some peaters today?

Glen Garioch '1797 Founder's Reserve' (48%, OB, +/-2018)

We first tried this expression when it came out in 2009 (WF 80), time to revisit it. OH and it’s pretty cheap for a late 18th century vintage, isn’t it ;-). Colour: deep gold. Nose: it’s a rather leafy and grassy one, with pretty high oak extraction, and heavy notes of porridge and raw malt, as well as a grassy smokiness. Dairy cream, a fresh loaf of wholegrain bread, and only after a good five minutes, much more vanilla and light syrups (corn). Leaven. Looks like the distillate was young, and the oak pretty active. Mouth: tastes a bit like if it was hesitating between the distillery’s modern fruity style, and its smokier past, but that would be a grassy smoke once again. Quite some pepper, cut grass, leaves, apple peels, the whole remaining rather bitter and curiously unsexy given its positioning. A lot of green oak and quite some yeast too. Finish: long, peppery, sharp, leafy. Still not very sexy. Bitter and sour aftertaste. Comments: it remained a challenging dram in my book, much grassier than I remembered.
SGP:461 - 78 points.

Glen Garioch 1999/2013 ‘Sherry Cask Matured’ (56.3%, OB, batch N°30)

It’s true that Glen Garioch and sherry have had a long and fruitful relationship, who doesn’t remember those magnificent official 1968s? Colour: amber. Nose: a touch of sulphur at first (gas, chalk, struck matches) but oranges and drier raisins are soon to join in, together with some sweeter whiffs of cigars and raw chocolate. Some chicory too, old walnuts, Ovaltine, perhaps a pinhead of Marmite, and the loveliest black pipe tobacco. Tends to become fantastic once you got past the sulphury arrival. With water: no more sulphur, rather a large bag of oranges of all kinds. Mouth (neat): really very good. Some very malty oloroso (almost more oloroso that tastes of malt than the other way ‘round), cherry liqueur, cane syrup, chestnut honey, ginger cake, chocolate and coffee… It’s really very big and lovable, although just a tad fizzy at times (tonic water). With water: really a lot of tobacco and chocolate. Like if someone had dipped his cigars in Mexican chocolate sauce. Finish: long, chocolaty and pretty smoky. Burnt brownies. Comments: I find this big monster excellent, despite the sulphur that, having said that, was rather to be found in the nose.
SGP:562 - 89 points.

Glen Garioch 1987/2017 (47.1%, OB, for CWS China, refill sherry butt, cask #603, 132 bottles)

We’ve had some very fruity and floral Glen Gariochs from these vintages. Some violets to be expected, perhaps? Colour: amber. Nose: this is exceptional on the nose, full of dried fruits and honeys. We’re talking figs and we’re talking heather honey. Also camphor and various balms, which is even more spectacular, and a few fresh fruits, Starkrimsons, red gooseberries, damsons… I find this absolutely fantastic, rather surprisingly so I have to say. With water: gets beautifully muddy. Some stewed fruits as well, cassis, a touch of liquorice and aniseed, and a hint of violet sweets. That’s really minimal. Mouth (neat): perfect! Leather, much more peat than expected, Timut pepper, a wee bit of strawberry jam, marmalade and apple compote, honeys, figs, dried pears… Only the pepper is a tad loud, but let’s see what happens once water’s been added. With water (not that water is obligatory here): excellent jams and honeys, a little rosewater and orange blossom. Turkish delights covered with chocolate. Finish: medium, smokier. Bitter oranges too, some caraway and cloves in the aftertaste. Comments: absolutely terrific.
SGP:562 - 90 points.

Glen Garioch 1979/2017 (42.9%, OB, for CWS China, first fill sherry butt, cask #3831, 114 bottles)

Glen Garioch 1979/2017 (42.9%, OB, for CWS China, first fill sherry butt, cask #3831, 114 bottles)
This older baby’s almost black, so, careful… Colour: almost black. Seriously, walnut stain. Nose: terpenes and eugenol all over the place, varnish, pine resin, paint thinner, thuja wood, cloves, sap, fir needles… It seems that the spirit sucked absolutely all oils from the wood over the years, a profile that can be pretty enjoyable on the nose, but that would usually lead to a very difficult palate, let’s see… Mouth: there are some funny sides, especially all this mint mixed with lemon peel oil, but this feeling of eating a whole pine tree is a little difficult for me. What’s more, there’s quite a lot of lavender, thyme oil, and cranberry sweets, not quite a combo that I would cherish. Bitter. Finish: long and herbal and bitter indeed. Crunching more pine needles. Comments: there used to be a few very old indie Glenfiddichs that were a bit like this, that is to say rather over-extractive. For lovers of extreme malts only, perhaps?
SGP:481 - 78 points.

(Thank you Derek and Tom)

Check the index of all Glen Garioch we've tasted so far