tasting 3 Glen Gariochs

None of the Glen Garioch's I've tried so far has stood out, not necessarily because its a below average malt, but its a hard malt to taste. It has this sort of bitter earthy flavor, a lot like some younger Glenrothes, but I believe that within in its own right, it can be a great malt whisky.



Glen Garioch 18yo 1988-2007 52.8% Duncan Taylor cask#1557

All the whiskies in this session are about the same age and strength. I've had a couple CS OB's at same age, and they all were e bit MOTR. Let's hope the OB's cracked the code of Glen Garioch. This one has the color os dark golden. It smells of rich, sweet honey notes, minty, pistachio, salty, some burnt grass and apple vinegar. Peat? I know they used peat at Glen Garioch a couple of decades back, and I believe there's quite a bit in this one as well. The taste is burnt, leather, wool, burnt fabric, oaky, perfumy, raw onions, nothing to be desired for my taste.

One to please Glen Garioch fans, for me its still a bit raw and unrefined: 4


Glen Garioch 18yo 1993-2011 53% Cadenhead's

A very recent Cadenhead's bottling, I've mostly tried older ones. This comes from Sauternes casks, which is a sweet white wine, and I applaud the use of it in Glenmorangies Nectar D'Or. It did not work that well carrying Springbank I remember. The color is brown. It smells of Moscatel, peppery, spicy, fennels, muscat, caustic soda, sweet apples. The taste is very drying and sulphury, reminds me more of some extreme fino casked whisky. Hard to tell much more, some sour apples and fish stock maybe. With water it becomes sweeter, more peppery, thyme, basil leaves, but most of all bitter and raw. I'm not sure, but I've always had a bit of trouble with Glen Gariochs. Please do not take these scores too seriously, they are very colored by my own lack of appreciation for the bitter herbal style this whisky often offers.

I could not go higher on this one: 3


Glen Garioch/Caskieben 17yo 54.2% The Whisky Connoisseur

I love these miniatures from The Whisky Connoisseur which I must admit, if fairly priced, I often buy blind just to try look up the spirits origin online. Most times I'll be able to do so. The color on this one is dark golden/peach. It smells of rich honey, fennels, anise seeds, lots of bitter herbs. Give it some time and some sweet camphor, bananas and heather comes to mind. The taste is sweet, raw potato starch, herbs, bitter guava, grassy, rosemary, licorice, black pepper, definitively the easiest recogniceable flavors in this one, but not necessarily the most interesting.

This is a pleasant Glen Garioch, but if you love complexity, stay away: 4



Next tasting: Glendronach Distillery