Glen Grant 11yo 43% James MacArthur's
I haven't tried too many diluted ones from James MacArthur's. This one is almost as pale as Vodka. I have had good experiences with young Glen Grants, maybe this will be another one? It smells sweet and synthetic. The taste is sweet and again synthetic, plastic, like some weird vodka. You could add green tea in this and it would overpower the whisky/vodka flavors. This is fun stuff if you wanna get drunk in a hurry, but to enjoy as more than that, it's a total waste.
Bland whisky from a bland cask: 3
Glen Grant 12yo 40% OB
After the last peat-derby its back to some Glens, starting with this one from Glen Grant, which seems to be a bottling from the 80's. Smells light, tea, wax, shoe polish, dry polyester. The taste is sweet, citrussy, a bit dry, hard to find some distinct flavours in this one. The aftertaste is light and sweet, some apricot and orange liqueur. Given some time it develops a bit but its a bit light for my palate.
A beginners dram: 4
Glen Grant 23yo 1985-2009 43% Schoner Nikolaus www.whiskyauction.com
One of these bottlings for Thomas Krüger and occasionally sold at whiskyauction.com and other auctions online. Glen Grant is a malt that I've tried many a time but it lacks what I call an easily recognizable distillery character. A malt perhaps more than others depending on a good cask to impress, not unlike Glengoyne. Golden colour, smells spirity, malty, woody, dry oak, seems much younger than its age. A lot of malty notes in this one, very one-dimensional. With water it becomes a bit peppery on the finish.
A kind/borderline bland malt: 4.5
Glen Grant 26yo 46% Cadenhead's
A deep dark red Glen Grant from Cadenhead's, probably bottled a couple decades back so I'd say it could've been distilled somewhere in the 60's or perhaps even late 50's. It smells dry, old, vinous, leather, hickory, kind of smoky, but not peat-fashion smoke, more a subtle and gentle smokiness, cubans? The taste is extremely dry, stale red wine, lemon and peat?(This is seriously smoky). Could there been used peat at the normally so light and kind Glen Grant back in the days? I have to try with water. Now some of the smokiness has disappeared and it's plain bitter and sweet.
Old style, for true sentimentalists: 6
Glen Grant 34yo 1975-2009 50% Old Malt Cask Douglas Laing
Glen Grant is a whisky which rise abnormally when reaching about 30yo, at auctions and so on, as its standard bottlings of today maybe a bit looked down on by many. I love the young versions of today, although I've rarely tried such old ones as this. Smells very light, almost nothing at all, some banana thing and a bit floral. The taste is a bit floral, grassy, a bit dry and quite bland. I don't mean to be disrespectful but if a nice and gentle malt like Glen Grant is to be bottled at the age of 34, it would have benefited from a more active cask.
Underdeveloped old Glen Grant: 3
Glen Grant 20yo 1948&1961-1981 40% Charles & Diana wedding commemoration G&M
I'm doing two royal commemoration wedding malts from Gordon and Macphail today. Both same vintages and for the mariage between the late princess Diana and Charles. This one is really fresh, fruity, cloves, nectarine and mint. I wonder how much of the content is 1948? The taste is kind of bland, reminds me actually a bit of the standard 5yo's. It gives me absolutely nothing, watery, diluted apple juice and wheat. I guess this is a bit like the afforementioned marriage, starts really good, but ends.. well, you know..
Yawn: 3
Glen Grant 15yo 40% OB
The bottles from Glen Grant are as far from being visually attractive as an elephant birth, but they still manage well salewise. Especially older bottlings. I once had a 70's NAS bottling of absolute brilliance. This one has a dark, bronze colour, but I guess that could as well confirm it's a good source of E150. The smell is very nice, an absolute summers delight with soft fruits like kiwi and mango, and a small hint of rosé. It needs a couple minutes to breath. The taste is dry, red wine, not bad, it reminds me of some oloroso finishes from the past. Add a bit of water, it gets more robust and some dry sherry-notes appears.
A nice surprise from a distillery looked down on by many: 6
Glen Grant 12yo 57% OB
A CS or close to CS glen grant is a new one for me, as I've never been able to get my hands on one of the many much talked about older CS versions. If you like it strong you'll love the nose on this one. If blind I'd thought it'd be peated. The taste is kind of sour, and a bit sweet, honey and unripe apples. Very nice, not dry at all. The aftertaste is a bit short, a bit like the ones on calvados, apples again, yes. I guess at the usual, for this distillery, 40% abv it'd be a bland and semi-fruity experience. But this is wonderful, the first honey shock, then the apple bonanza and the finish of southern europe is excellent.
Very well Glen Grant: 8
Glen Grant 5yo 40% OB
Today I'll try 3 pale youngster, and first of all the 5yo Glen Grant, one which is reaching very high prices on ebay despite it's young age. Last time I tried this I was positively surprised. The nose is young and spirity, but not in a very excessive way. It holds back. The taste is watery and a bit slow, it's not showing character until the finish. It has a light malty aroma and isn't bad at all, but there's just not enough going on. Feels like a poor blend.
Add a drop of water and you'll have a whisky soft drink: 2.5
Glen Grant NAS 43% OB
One from the 70's with no evaporation, rare to find. Very strong and spirity smell, a young age, no doubt. The taste is very intense, flowery, roses, turnips, grass, malt extract and fine grounded coffee. A couple drops of water creates a beautifully balanced whisky with all the aforementioned flavours, just longer and firmer.
I'm totally astonished, why don't they taste like this no more?: 9.5
Glen Grant 16yo 46% Cadenhead's
Glen Grant is a classic speysider, in old style. This version seems to have matured in sherry or portcasks, very dark. Some incredibly sweet nuances of chocolate and caramel, and a very powerful taste of dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa, on the palate. Finishes off with an aftertaste dominated by much cask character.
A nice and mature speysider: 5.5
Glen Grant 8yo 40% OB
Glen Grant's never been described in big words, but it does have something going for it. The rather soft nose is honey, carnation and roses. The just as soft taste combines watermelon, brown sugar, caramel, girly perfume and apricots. The finish ruins a bit as it's very rancid.
hardly complicated, but very enjoyable: 5
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