Glen Ord, young plus ultima


June 20, 2022

Little duos, today Glen Ord,
young plus ultima

We're going on with our exploration of this year's Prima & Ultima series by Diageo. We'll always keep in mind the rather extraordinary official Ord 30 yo from around twenty years ago, in its rectangular bottle. By the way, Ord, Glen Ord, Glenordie or The Singleton of Glen Ord, that's all from the same distillery. Let's also remember that there's a large malting plant at Glen Ord (previously even Saladin boxes), so we could say that Glen Ord are doing their maltings themselve.
(picture, magazine ad, circa 1995. Crazy admen...)

Glen Ord 9 yo 2021/2021 (53.9%, Maltbarn, bourbon cask, 148 bottles)

Colour: white wine and definitely unfiltered, as we're having a lot of wee black congeners swimming and twirling around. Cool! Nose: so very epitomically Glen Ord, which I've always found full of beeswax and tarte tatin. Some wonderful pears too in there, as well as a discreet smokiness, as if someone would be smoking a cigar… a mile away. With water: barley! It's not often that we would be this close to raw barley, plus the syrup made thereof, not to mention candy cane. Remember those flutes we were having when we were kids? Mouth (neat): extremely thick, as a syrup, and viscimetrical even without water. Greengage syrup, barley syrup, williams pears… With water: once again, back to the barley – and ripe pears. Finish: rather long, still thickly textured, with a little lemon this time. Candyfloss, toffee apple… It's a party! Comments: just excellent, a lovely fat spirit with a superb mouthfeel.
SGP:641 - 87 points.

The Singleton of Glen Ord 1987/2021 (49,4%, OB, Prima & Ultima Third Release, refill American oak hogsheads, 1,047 bottles, 2022)

This one from five casks, the last 1987s that Diageo would have owned. Colour: straw. Nose: I'm instantly reminded of that glorious 30 years old we were just mentioning. Beeswax, ripe apples, honeycomb, dandelions, acacia flowers, honeysuckle, papaya, meadow honey, apricots, jujubes, quince jelly, mirabelle jam… and although it's 100% not winey, you would also find some lovely sweet wines such as the ripe chenins blancs from Loire (Côteaux-du-Layon). Mouth: exactly. This composition reminds us that even if single malts are single malts (bravo, S.!) you still need a good master blender as soon as you marry several casks. By the way, after Dr Jim and Mrs Robinson with the first two editions of the Prima & Ultima, this year it is Dr Craig Wilson who's been handling the valinches and the pipettes. Successfully, judging by this little Glen Ord that's just astoundingly honeyed and ridden wit juicy dried fruits and jams. Like, mirabelles and quinces! Other fruits in the bower, bergamots, dried jujubes, dates for sure… Finish: medium, with some very soft spices, tiny touch of ginger, cinnamon rolls, and certainly more fragrant honey. Comments: indeed, I'm having the feeling of drinking that old 30 years old. It's incredible how our mind works, as I've just checked that I've last tried that official 30 on February 15… 2006!
SGP:641 - 92 points.

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