Glen Garioch 11 Year Old - Duncan Taylor Single Cask - 53.7%
Glen Garioch (pronounced Glen Geery from the ancient Doric dialect still spoken in the region) can lay claim to being one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland having been in operation since 1797. Located in Oldmeldrum in the North East of Scotland, it’s also the most easterly.
These days the distillery is owned by Beam Suntory, with much of their relatively small output being used for blending by the parent company.
From the Spirits Embassy website
Only the finest single malt and grain whiskies are chosen for Duncan Taylor's Single Cask range. The whisky are all bottled at cask strength, non-chill filtered or artificially coloured ensuring that each delivers the multi-dimensional character of the distillery. These unique whiskies are a testament to the diversity and influence of individual casks.
The Glen Garioch 11 year old was distilled in 2011 and bottled in 2022 cask number 461586. The sherry cask it was matured in produced 213 bottles.
Appearance: Pale white wine in colour, forms a thin line which beads before falling as slow, thin legs.
Nose: Fresh green apples, kiwi fruit, vanilla ice cream, lemon citrus, and stone fruit.
Palate: Quite thin and alcohol forward, orchard fruit, vanilla, caramel, zesty lemon and orange, fresh apricots and nectarines, a mild grassiness and a touch of peppery spice. With water it becomes more grassy and green apples come to the fore, in addition to reducing the peppery heat.
Finish: Reasonable length, grassy with malted milk biscuits and a sizeable amount of pepperiness.
Summary: This Glen Garioch expression is a light, clean whisky with some delicate floral and fruit notes and a significant hit of pepper. More of a summer whisky as well as one for those who enjoy lighter, Japanese-style whiskies.
Priced at £73.99, not bad value for cask strength and without chill filtration. For me, there was a little too much pepperiness. Whilst addition of water helped a little it also flattened the overall flavour profile. This was my least favourite of the tasting session but still a decent dram.
If you would like to know more about the Glen Garioch distillery and their range of whiskies, follow the link to the company website.
Transparency: This sample was part of a 5 dram sample set, purchased from The Spirits Embassy. No goods or other incentives were exchanged, offered or requested for this independent review.
