A few times a year, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") will do a single cask deep dive into particular distilleries - where several casks are released together, usually complementing each other and presenting various different angles. I've participated in the Macallan and Highland Park deep dives... now I'm trying out a fairly lesser known distillery, Glen Garioch.
Glen Garioch is owned by Morrison Bowmore, which is itself a subsidiary of beverage giant Suntory. This means it's in the same "family" as Bowmore, Ardmore, Auchentoshan, and Laphroaig. Located in the eastern Highlands, Glen Garioch is quite close to Ardmore, and is a very very old distillery - founded in 1797, making it one of the very few still around from the 18th century.
Glen Garioch's profile has changed a bit over the years - what apparently used to be a dry, faintly smoky spirit for most of the 20th century has been steadily changed by Beam Suntory into what most describe as a robust fruit bomb - tons of orchard and tropical fruit. So that made me quite curious when combined with the fact that SMWS released three 18 year old bottles and decided to put all three into different flavor profiles (!).
This is the first bottle, sorted into "spicy and sweet." Here are the official notes:
The nose was immediately appealing, a delightful amalgamation of roses, carnations and butterscotch with fruit biscuits, apricot jam and toasted nuts. After an initial explosion of chilli heat on the palate, waves of fruit salad, apple crumble and toffee popcorn arrived drizzled with sticky syrup while the finish was much drier with herbs and pine sap. With a dash of water came aromas of green grass with toasted cereals and dry straw. Mango and melon delivered juicy fruits while custard was served over now singed apple crumble and malted biscuits. A theme of juicy fruits and syrup continued on the palate but now with the addition of stone fruits, cocoa nibs and nut husks on the dry finish.
Intriguing! I like encountering rose flavors, and the rest sounds very delectable. I hope for a rich fruit salad with flowers and spices. Botted at 58.6% ABV, let's investigate:
Nose: Like many/most 18 year old whiskies, this is a little bit shy on the nose. In fact, I recently went through my archives and looked at all the 18 year whiskies I've reviewed: Glenmorangie, Auchentoshan, Johnnie Walker, Laphroaig, Springbank, another Glen Garioch), they've all had that in common.
But after it's given some time to unwind and breathe a bit, it does come out to play: fruit pastry is the first and most dominant note (like apple turnovers, pear puff, apricot pie, and cherry scones). There is a very light floral fragrance here - I can't pin it down as clearly as "rose" or "carnations," but it's definitely something like that scent you get when you pass by the florist. There is also some sweet malted barley and roasted almonds - together it almost reminds me of a breakfast cereal. Underneath everything is a distinct but very very faint autumnal/farmyard scent - like hay stuck to mud.
With a touch of water: Stays mostly the same, but the farm scent comes a little forward, as a leathery dryness. Which I guess is what the official notes call "dry straw."
Mouthfeel: Medium in every way.
Palate: As pleasant as the nose was, the palate is a completely different ballpark, and really steals the show - this has a BIG set of flavors, a complete fruit bomb. Chili peppers ride a big wave of alcohol, leaving behind a wake of fruit salad (apple, peach, cherry, pear, orange) and custard. The cherry is particularly bright. There is also a nice vein of freshly baked pastry coming through. Altogether, the fruit and custard and pastry remind me strongly of a classic fruit tart. It's lovely: big, bold, bright fruit - sweet, a touch spicy and dry, lightly floral - with that unusual farm note keeping it from seeming "simple."
With a splash of water: Same as the nose, it gets a little more "Highland" - dry, leathery ("nut husks"!) notes are added to the big fruit.
Finish: A nice, lingering finish: wood, lots of cinnamon, fruit, a bit of malt or grassiness, and floral pepper (!). One of the best finishes I've had on a fruit-forward dram in quite some time. Well executed.
Verdict: Well, damn. This is a very nicely done bottle of scotch whisky indeed! It brings many things to mind: how good unknown distilleries can be; how good Suntory's management must be to produce such a lovely spirit; how good their cask team must be, because this first fill bourbon barrel is FULL of flavor; and how good the SMWS tasting team can be, because 18 years is jusssssst right for this. I am a very big fan of this Glen Garioch.
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