There has been a wave of independent Glengoyne releases in the last couple of years (1972/1973 and 1997/1998), but I’ve never reviewed an official release.

Glengoyne focuses its marketing around slow distillation (which is said to create a more subtle and complex whisky) and completely peat-less drying of the malt (which should allow the malt to express itself better). Let’s see how this works out.

Glengoyne 10 yo (40%, OB 2009)

Nose: crisp barley sugars, popcorn and not so fresh (cider) apples. Peach marmalade. A few nutty hints as well. Mouth: fresh but slightly weakish. Again very much on malty notes. Cereal bars with apple and pear. Soft spices. A little mocha. Very lightly sherried. Finish: gentle and fairly short. Malty with some faint oak and cocoa.

This Glengoyne 10 is very clean and malty, which means the added flavours struggle to come out and it lacks some personality in my opinion. Overall a decent entry-level whisky, an alternative for blends, easy to drink and inoffensive. Around € 30 (or € 35 for a full litre bottle).

Score: 75/100