Little Trios, today Glen Garioch


May 26, 2022

Little Trios, today Glen Garioch
First the official 12 that we keep following, then two (much) older indies that may, or may not, showcase pink bananas…

Glen Garioch 12 yo (48%, OB, +/-2021)

Aren't we all expecting to come across the utter glory of the 1971-1975 Glen Gariochs again? Who's lost the recipe? Anyway, we keep following this 12 and try it almost once every three or four years. Make that five. Colour: gold. Nose: hey? Nice roasted honey cake and notes of engine oil, exhausts, strawberry jam, blood orange jam and prickly pears. I remember I really liked a '2016' but this is nicer yet, fat, assertive, just not as phenolic and wide as 1970s batches, despite an obvious sooty side. Perhaps did they finally find the old settings in a drawer? (yeah right). But didn't Louis XIV say that nothing grand was ever made within one day? Mouth: I'd swear we're moving towards 1970s grandeur. Fab mangos, smoky peppers, tangerine paste, oils, pomegranate jam, Szechuan pepper, citric hops (IPA), and just lemons… Pretty brilliant, this. Finish: long, tropical and slightly peaty. Superb citrusy aftertaste. Comments: I could be dreaming (chasing myths, you know) but I have the impression that GG's glorious days are about to be back. Fantastic tropical fruits and firmness.
SGP:652 - 87 points.

Glen Garioch 31 yo 1990/2021 (53.9%, WhiskySponge, refill hogshead, 201 bottles)

I've heard this shouldn't be too bad (another euphemism on WF). I seem to remember these early 1990s batches were full of western garden fruits, especially all kinds of apples and plums. Colour: full gold. Nose: hey it's strong! A slightly waxy appleness indeed, rather some greener fruits, green bananas, greengages, gooseberries, plus some limestone and fresh rainwater. With water: new sweater, washing powder, limestone, raw wool, camphor, rubbed mint leaves, all things that are just perfect. What we haven't found in a Sponge bottling yet is a note of… sponge. Mouth (neat): absolutely excellent, paraffiny and citrusy. A touch of icing sugar. I say no more, let's try it with water… With water: at its best, jammier, wider, with liquorice allsorts, mango syrup, pink bananas, peppermint, touch of hops, banana foam… Finish: rather long, wonderfully fruity, jammy, with a honeyed signature. A funny drop of Jamaican rum in the aftertaste, as well as, perhaps, a drop of old Bushmills. And why not? Comments: good, I was wrong once more, this has both western orchard fruits and tropical ones. Perhaps the work of time on a good hogshead. Brilliant and incredibly fresh, these casks could easily go to 50 or much more.
SGP:651 - 90 points.

Glen Garioch 32 yo 1988/2021 (47.9%, The Whisky Agency, Private Stock, hogshead, 138 bottles)

We need to remember to thank all these great business types that are willing to part with their own 'private' stocks and reserves, but it's true that the industry's always been very altruistic. Controversies only on postcards please. Colour: full gold. Nose: narrower, tighter, kind of more pungent than the Sponge, with more chalk and bread dough, beyond similar bananas and apples. Other than that, you feel it's slowly getting candied, in a way, and more piney. Whiffs of myrtle and fresh-sawn eucalyptus wood, even new teak wood. New sauna. Mouth: some piney woods creeping in, but also some stunning sultanas and dried goji berries. Guavas, pepper, apple peel, raw artisan cider, borage and sorrel… This one's anything but 'obvious', and really needs your attention. Nothing is granted here, it is almost avantgarde whisky. Kind of. Finish: long, a little prickly, but wonderfully fruity and leafy. Small berries. Comments: this one leads you by the nose, both literally and figuratively. It needs time.
SGP:651 - 89 points.

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