Off the Beaten path#2. Glentauchers Distillery

Glentauchers is another one of those distilleries with a big capacity that you don't see much bottled as single malt, and much of that probably being due to a lack of demand. On the other hand, it is a big contributor to Black & White, Ballantine's and Chivas Regal amongst others. Time to find out how it makes it all on its own.


Glentaucher 10yo 43% OB for the Wee Dram Blackpool btl.104/250

This one was bottled to celebrate an english tennis effort back in 1991/1992. My expectations could have been higher, but that just leaves more room for a positive surprise. The colour is light yellow, it smells pretty aromatic, some green tea, forest fruits, wet grass, thin spring air, wet moss, one to have when camping outdoors. The taste is more citric and acidic, rubber, acrylic paint, leather. This is it for me, now I must say that this one seriously lacks some good flavors and reminds me more of reasonably bad grain whisky, like the Invergordon 10 amongst others. It seems so artificial, and more on the lines of Vodka if you ask me. Adding water doesn not help.

I can see why it's more of a blenders choice: 2


Glentauchers 28yo 1976-2005 46% MacKillop's Choice cask#7668 btl.177

This ought to be something a bit different, considering the vintage and coming from a single cask. The color is about the same, light yellow, maybe a tired cask, or some lightly toasted bourbon wood? It smells very refined, sort of a lighter grain style, vanilla, grassy, kiln fire, musty, hard to pick up on much on the nose as it's more subtle than a fart in a gas explosion. The taste is dry, musty, grainy, oat meal, agricultural greens, raw flower stalks, if you know what I mean. Ever tried chewing the stalk of a dandelion as a kid?This one needs some water I believe, just to open up. With water it turns more bitter and more on the musty stuff. Kind of disappointing fir such an old whisky, but if this taste is ever so not to my liking, it has a lot more going for it than the 10yo. But to like this I believe you need a palate accustomed to peculiar tastings.

The perfect Glentauchers intro dram, weird and all: 3.5


Glentauchers 18yo 1977-1996 60% Cadenhead's

I know that making the jump from 46-60%abv with no bridge in a vertical, might not seem as the smartest thing to do, but as the two first in this session were so unlikely, I need a break. And this might be just that. Many whiskies that falter when bottled at low strength can easily pick themselves up at CS. Examples for me are Fettercairn, Glenallachie and Laphroaig. Same color as the prior two. The nose is salty, almost peaty, smoky, cured ham, smoked turkey, roasted walnuts, a nice rustic introduction to this one. The taste is big on ginger and wasabi paste, quite simple and easy but still so original in it's own right. Next time I'll have sushi I'll drop the Sake and rather have this one. It also has a white wine dryness and instant smoked clay thing going on. Dry, but in a very good way. With a small addition of water it turns bitter and stale. Avoid water!!

At this strength, Glentauchers makes for an unusual and interesting whisky: 6.5


Glentauchers 16yo 1977-1994 63.8% Cadenhead's

Another one at crazy strength, the same color as the previous three ones, are all the casks at Glentauchers the same? Anyway, if the other one from W.M.C. were something to go by, this one could be a very nice one. The nose shows to be full of dark syrup, roasted almonds and honey, a much sweeter one than the others in this session. The taste is sweet, bitter and dry, balsamic vinegar, dry white port wine, onions and vegetable stock, this one needs some water. With water it becomes even more spirity, with these agricultural notes coming forth again. I wish we could get some of these Glentauchers matured in sherry casks once in a while, just to see what other styles they can produce. Maybe there are some around out there, but as far as I'm concerned, this is a whisky that's made for blending purposes.

The nose was amazing, but again the bitterness prevails: 3.5



Next tasting: Off the beaten path#3