There’s a tendency to release extremely old malts as exclusive bottlings in fancy boxes for outrageous amounts of money. Once in a while though, an old whisky is marketed as a drinker’s whisky at an affordable price. Master of Malt fits this description with their range of undisclosed old Speysiders. There’s a 30 year-old, a 40 year-old and now a 50 year-old!
Master of Malt Speyside 50 yo
(40%, Master of Malt 2009)
Nose: great nose, fruity and spicy. Apricot pie and yellow raisins. Oranges. Heather honey. Vanilla and a little cellulose varnish. Woody notes and pine needles as well, but actually less than expected for such an old malt. Some mint. Cinnamon. A lovely touch of candle wax and even engine oil. Quite excellent. Mouth: ah, here’s the wood. Immediately spicy with nutmeg and cloves. Quite phenolic as well which is a nice addition. Some chocolate. Hints of tea and olive oil. Getting quite tannic. Maybe a few extra degrees would have balanced it better? Finish: rather short, spicy and not too dry.
A stunning nose with beautiful fruit and smooth signs of age. On the palate it misses some punch, which means there’s more emphasis on the wood than on the fruits. Very nice. Around € 290 which is a lot of money but still relatively cheap considering the age.
Another Glen Grant 5 years old, this time distilled in 1968. Samples of this bottle are available from whiskysamples.eu. I’m curious to see how this compares to the one distilled in 1974.
This was bottled at a 40% while my 1974/1979 version was bottled at 43%. As far as I know, 1979 was the only year in which Glen Grant decided to bottle a higher strength version (in a cardboard box) together with a normal version.
Glen Grant 5 yo 1968 (40%, OB 1973, 75 cl.)
Nose: this one is a bit more spirity and mineral than the 1974 version. The apples are still here, but most of the fragrant fruitiness is missing. A tad flatter and more grainy. A bit more sooty maybe. Mouth: weak start again. Malty. Apples again, but less expressive than the 1974. Simple with a herbal development towards the finish. Finish: not too long and quite grainy.
These old Glen Grants share the same profile. They’re simple but not bad. I prefer the 1974 edition, the nose is more attractive and the higher strength makes it more flavoursome.
Score: 77/100
ps/ While these scores may seem rather low, I suggest to try them if you have a chance. They’re like oldtimer cars: to modern standards they may not be as complex or polished, but they have a character that we don’t see any more.
A couple of decades ago, whisky was bottled at a much younger age than today. This Glen Grant 5yo is a good example. The fact that it mentions a vintage year was less common, but a few of these Glen Grants have that, especially bottles sold in Italy, Spain and Portugal.
This is a good occasion to mention the Old Bottle Effect. While whisky will not change after being bottled, after many years the glass can start to interact with the spirit. There are a lot of doubts about this OBE (was it related to old distillation methods like direct firing, does the air inside the bottle have an effect or is it just the glass, does the light have an influence, etc.) but there seems to be a general consensus that there is an effect. Common OBE changes include lower peat levels, a certain dustiness / mushrooms and metallic notes.
Glen Grant 5 yo 1974 (43%, OB 1979 for Sileno Portgual, 75 cl.)
Nose: starts on porridge with a few mineral notes. Slightly metallic as well. Quite a lot of lemon. Wet books. Faint hints of motor oil. Interestingly, these notes are mixed with a nice tropical fruitiness of lime, apricot and passion fruit. Mouth: quite weak, with mostly the malt speaking. A few herbal notes come out, a few flowery notes and some liquorice (the wood, not the candy). Develops on apples. Not a high-flyer but not bad either. Finish: completely on apple juice (rather spectacular) but quite short.
Difficult to score. On the one hand, this is not up to modern standards in terms of density and flavour complexity. On the other hand I love those old noses and it drinks like lemonade. Sadly, I’m not living in Madrid any more, because this would have been perfect for a hot summer day.
Glen Scotia is the only distillery in Campbeltown apart from the two Springbank plants. It is probably the only distillery in Scotland to use washbacks made of Cor-Ten steel (kind of a pre-rusted steel). Its production is rather irregular which means it’s rarely found as a single malt.
This 18 years old Glen Scotia was matured in a sherry butt and bottled by Malts of Scotland.
Glen Scotia 18 yo 1992 (53,3%, Malts of Scotland 2010, cask #429, 199 btl.)
Nose: a bit weird. Rubbery sherry, with a bunch of roasted / burnt notes (burnt pastry, hints of sulphur, burnt grass). Some mint. Red fruit as well, evolving to raspberry vinegar. Wet newspaper and dusty old fabric. I kept changing my mind about this one, it seems to change constantly. In a way it’s really ferocious, but on the other hand that makes it interesting. Mouth: punchy and rather herbal (cloves). Caramel. Quite woody. Salty liquorice. Aftertaste on roasted coffee beans and cocoa. Water doesn’t change the profile. Finish: dying quite soon, but with a nice chocolate ending.
Quite extreme… Interesting but not really a drinker’s whisky. Around € 80.
Score: 78/100 (debatable score… make that 63 or 85 depending on your mood)
Another special edition bottled for the 10th Anniversary of The Whisky Exchange. It should be from a refill sherry hogshead.
In 2008, TWE bottled another 1978 Glenglassaugh under the Single Malts of Scotland label.
Glenglassaugh 31 yo 1978 (44,6%, The Whisky Exchange 10th Anniversary 2009)
Nose: dry sherry and dark rum notes mixed with a delicate fruity side (blood orange, some very ripe mango, whiffs of raspberry and banana). Rather big hints of shoe polish and menthol / eucalyptus. Orangettes (chocolates with a sugared orange filling). Showing savoury, meaty notes and dried fruits (dates, prunes) if you add some water (although it’s perfectly drinkable straight). Leather. Elegant. Mouth: heavy oak and heavy sherry with hints of dark tea and bitter oranges. Some toasted bread and cinnamon. Raisins dipped in dark chocolate. Lovely coffee in the aftertaste. Long finish on liquorice, cocoa and oranges. A bit dry.
A lovely start with a polished dry sherry influence. On the palate the oak begins to show its age. Classic Speyside sherry though. Available from TWE.
Around € 145.
The 10th Anniversary of The Whisky Exchange in London has brought us a series of rare Anniversary whiskies. We’ve already reviewed an excellent Longmorn 1969/2009 and now it’s time for a 37 years old Clynelish. They don’t mention it on the bottle, but there’s a high chance that this was distilled in 1972 because there have been mostly 1972 and 1992 bottlings in their Single Malts of Scotland range. Around 200 bottles have been bottled.
Clynelish 37 yo (46%, The Whisky Exchange 10th Anniversary 2009)
Nose: beautiful start on beeswax and honey. Very fruity, with a basket of fresh tropical fruits (mango, pineapple) and more indigenous fruit (pear, orange, tangerine). Haribo bears. Lovely paraffin. Vanilla. Whiffs of oak spices to top it off (cinnamon and light pepper). A little olive oil and camphor. I don’t like to use the word ‘perfect’ but this is close! Mouth: a bit more resinous now. Still fruity (orange, peach, banana) but less exhuberant. Some Turkish delight. Hints of smoke and dust. In the end it shows ginger and a slightly salty hint of liquorice. Finish: very long and waxy with hints of orange skin and resinous dry oak.
Compared to the recent wave of 1982 Clynelish, this is oakier (of course), with more citrus and a more delicate profile. There have been some questions about the fact that it was diluted to 46% instead of earlier cask strength releases, but I can confirm that the end result is a good mix of complexity and drinkability. One to cherish! Available from TWE. Around € 175.
About two weeks ago, an interesting new Laphroaig was announced. I haven’t seen this news on any of the major whisky websites, so I’m happy to pass it on.
Laphroaig 20 years old ‘Double Cask’ is a limited edition that will only be sold by the French Duty Free retailer Aelia. Essentially it is the recent bourbon matured Laphroaig 18 years with an extra maturation in small quarter casks and bottled at 46,6%. We can expect it to be slightly sweeter and probably a bit richer than the original.
750 individually numbered bottles will be made available at € 225 later this month. Something to look out for if you’re passing through Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
GlenDronach Grandeur is the newest offering from one of the distilleries whose trademark is sherry maturation. Grandeur is a limited vatting (1013 bottles) with majestic packaging.
GlenDronach Grandeur 31 yo
(45,8%, OB 2010, 1013 btl.)
Nose: the first things I pick up are faint sulphury notes, from the same family as the 15 yo Revival. Let’s wait for fifteen minutes. Okay, much better now, dried fruits and coffee come out. A little mint. Some oranges and hazelnuts. Lovely hints of Café Noir biscuits. Cut herbs. Blueberries. Quite rich, but rather high on nutty mocha and maybe not the explosion of red fruits I had hoped for. When compared to the exquisite fresh fruits of the GlenDronach 1972 cask #719 (one of my favourite releases of last year), it’s clearly muted and playing in a slightly lower league. Mouth: chocolate coated oranges. Spicy honey. Some tobacco. Roasted nuts. Leather. Finish: nice fade on orangettes and cherries.
GlenDronach Grandeur is rich, smooth and perfectly drinkable (I didn’t feel the need to add water). It’s good to know GlenDronach can present different styles. It’s flawless but when compared directly with the 1972 and 1972 for LMdW single casks, I have the feeling something is missing. I guess last year’s single casks have really spoiled us. Around € 400.
Master of Malt Speyside 50 yo 
This blog is my personal collection of impressions, written while searching for the ultimate single malt whisky.
