Glen Garioch to begin the yr

McClelland’s Highland Single Malt 16 12 months Previous (40%, OB, US import, Nineties, 75cl)
(Image illustrative solely, it was really a display screen printed label however Angus tthrew the bottle out earlier than taking {a photograph}. Bah… Ed.) This needs to be Glen Garioch, however you by no means know… Color: orangey gold – caramel! Nostril: undoubtedly seems like some form of previous ‘transitional’ Glen Garioch. That’s to say some earthy peat sloshing about within the depths, but in addition some barley water, mashed potatoes and issues which stray slightly too near washing up liquid for my liking. A mixture of pre-75 and later vintages maybe? Mouth: it is okay really, this anticipated soapiness would not strike. As an alternative, nonetheless, you get vacancy as an alternative. And this impression of bitter, barely rancid marmalade. Touches of cardboard and cheesecloth and plastic. Bizarre and never good to be sincere. End: medium however altogether too lengthy because it’s bitter, acidic and focussed on these plastic notes, virtually like contemporary nappies dropped in dishwater. Bizarre! Feedback: It in all probability was Glen Garioch and virtually actually drawn from a few of these extremely unlikely vintages from the late 70s / early 80s. Not significantly soapy, however not good both!
SGP: 431 – 58 factors.

Glen Garioch 8 yo (55%, Dram Mor, bourbon, 241 bottles, 2020)
Color: buttery white wine. Nostril: splendidly contemporary distillate that is completely dominated by uncooked and pure components. Freshly malted barley, lemon barley water, freshly baked baguette, white flowers, nectars, pollens, candy oatcakes and barley sugars. A beautiful pure sweetness pervades the nostril. With water: leaner, extra on pure cereals, sunflower oil, hand lotion, mineral oils and issues like cactus and sheep wool. Mouth: beautiful arrival, similar because the nostril however with added waxes, grassiness, cooking oils and touches of carbon paper and hessian. Fats and chunky, excessive calibre distillate! With water: nonetheless properly tense, pure and pure. Some lemon peel emerges now, additionally wee touches of ink, soot, dried herbs, putty – fairly loads happening actually. End: medium, on bison grass, lemon rind, white pepper, lighter waxes and mineral oils once more. Feedback: I am barely shocked by how a lot I get pleasure from this extraordinarily stylish, humble and completely charming wee Glen Garioch. Nice distillate that recollects some older, totally bare, 100 proof Glen Grant bottlings by G&M and an easiness that makes it splendidly drinkable. Prime work by the nice people at Dram Mor!
SGP: 462 – 88 factors.

Glen Garioch 18 yo 1979/1997 (50%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #19.14 ‘Germoline, peat and strawberry jam’)
1979? Glen Garioch? This might actually go both approach… Color: coppery amber. Nostril: nicely, mercifully there is not any hint of cleaning soap up to now. In truth that is really fairly beautiful, all on roast nuts, porcini, ham, black espresso with caramel sauce and pu ehr teas, sport meats and certainly one thing medicinal that does recall germoline at factors. Little question some hint quantities of peat sloshing about within the combine someplace. With water: mentholated, full of varied shades of fruit tobaccos, jams, pot pourri, spiced blood orange marmalade and these fairly voluptuous and fruity waxes. Mouth: very humorous! That is crimson kola with Tizer, Irn Bru sweeties, cherry cough drugs, strawberry syrup, wintergreen, medical vapour rubs and crimson liquorice. Additionally some pink pepper, waxes and pine wooden resins. greater than slightly mad however however fairly satisfying. With water: crimson fruit teas, crusted port, madeira loaf, pomegranate sorbet – what’s going on? End: medium, mentholated, jammy, natural, filled with cough syrups, fir resins, winter mulling spices and a few form of Buckfast diluting juice! Feedback: I couldn’t let you know what kind of cask this was matured in, or what on earth simply occurred. However… I can affirm it’s clear, barely peaty, very humorous, fairly bizarre and virtually embarrassingly enjoyable! Ought to this random previous bottle cross your path, I might suggest you strive it.
SGP: 653 – 89 factors.

Glen Garioch 1972 (43%, OB for Oddbins, mid Nineties)
One in every of a sequence of classic releases, supposedly all single casks, for Oddbins within the Nineties – they’ve had some completely gorgeous unique bottlings of their time Oddbins. I’ve very fond recollections of after I labored within the Hillhead, Glasgow department round 2007. Though, at the moment we had been typically ingesting instances of Tremendous Bock immediately from the freezer, not a lot 72 Glen Garioch. Color: brilliant amber. Nostril: yup! Beautiful. A pure and vivid expression of older type peat character that brings to thoughts Fifties Highland Park or Sixties Ardbeg. A wealth of dried up roots, herbs, ointments and embrocations. Tar liqueur, fir resins, historical natural extracts, roof felt and barely mentholated tobaccos. The form of nostril that endlessly subdivides, from which you’ll extract any variety of fragrant particulars. Let’s not additionally overlook waxes too! Mouth: great arrival, totally on camphors, tars, peat oils (if such issues do exist) but in addition deeply complicated earthy and bitter chocolatey elements from the sherry. There’s additionally fruits as nicely, unique and darkish ones that manifest as crystallised and preserved. The feel is thick, with a resinous salinity, umami pastes, bouillon, meats, tar… immense, detailed, lovely and but additionally mild because of the bottling power which seems like an asset right here. End: lengthy, deep, warming and glowing with peat embers, tar, medicinal roots and herbs, earthy black teas, salted liquorice and walnutty rancio. The sherry and peat being fully fused into an ideal entire. Feedback: immense whisky that is in all probability an ideal illustration of why we discuss ‘previous type’ peat and sherry traits. This gathers each right into a poetically lovely single dram.
SGP: 664 – 94 factors.

Glen Garioch 1966/1997 (43%, Samaroli, casks #1309-1299, 696 bottles)
Color: straw. Nostril: very totally different in type, a fairly fragile, vapoury and floral smokiness that reveals brittle chalky and seashell elements together with coal smoke, sooty embers, minerals and seashore wooden. A method that means a distant affect of peat which has damaged down – decayed virtually – underneath the eroding affect of a long time in each cask and bottle. There may be magnificence right here, but in addition a background suggestion of violets and cleaning soap. Mouth: okay, in all honesty, I discover this too soapy for me. I am fairly delicate to it anyway, and this can be a good instance the place it ideas into flawed in my ebook. There’s different stuff happening too, waxes, citrons, moist rocks, smoked inexperienced teas – pleasure in different phrases. It is simply that these do not gel with, or dominate, these extra floral soapy tones. As such the impression is one in all dissonance. End: fairly lengthy but it surely tends to be the cleaning soap that dominates sadly, floral smoke, touches of violets once more and coal mud. Feedback: what a very fascinating whisky Glen Garioch might be. To make such luminal, genius whiskies like that 1972 (and lots of others remember), whereas in neighbouring vintages producing such humorous, difficult and problematic spirit similar to this which defy straightforward rationalization, makes for a irritating and head scratching expertise. It is value noting that Serge loved this one fairly much more again in 2007 (WF 88), so maybe it’s my pattern, or maybe it is a whisky which suffers from extended publicity to air? Maybe it was this explicit bottle? I would like to do that one once more someday from one other bottle, that is for certain. However these batches do are likely to have a sure…’fame’. Now, the nostril and the palate each had some very fairly elements as nicely, so…
SGP: 563 – 75 factors.