Glen Scotia 1992 (Malts of Scotland)

Ruben — Tue, 18 May 2010 06:30:00 +0000

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)

GlenDronach 1972 (cask #705 for LMdW)

Ruben — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:00:00 +0000

In the 2009 series of GlenDronach single casks, the GlenDronach 1972 cask #719 was my favourite (in fact, it was one of the best bottlings I’ve tasted last year). A few months later, this sister cask #705 was bottled for La Maison du Whisky and won the Malt Maniacs award for Best Sherry Cask 2009 in the Ultra premium category.

It’s a 37 year-old, matured in an oloroso sherry butt.

GlenDronach 37 yo 1972 (53,3%, OB 2009 for LMdW, oloroso cask #705, 399 btl.)

Nose: pretty similar to the markethouse bottling. More red fruits (raspberry rather than blueberry / blackcurrant. Citrus as well (blood orange). Water brings out hints of exotic fruits (papaya, mango). Dark chocolate. Some toasted notes. Less oak polish than the OB. Less farmy notes, more the meaty kind of sherry. Ginger, pepper. The LMdW nose is great but compared directly with the OB, it is slightly less complex and less expressive. Mouth: still those very nice red fruits but they are almost drowned by big waves of resinous notes and mentholated oak. Chocolate coated oranges. Tobacco leaves. Getting quite tannic and dry with a salty hint of liquorice. Finish: woody and dry but very rich with notes of tangerine and milk chocolate.

I guess 1972 already is a legendary year for GlenDronach, in the same way BenRiach 1976 are all great. I prefer the original bottling though. Still available from La Maison du Whisky at around € 310.

Score: 89/100

WhiskyNotes » 53.3%

Glen Scotia 1992 (Malts of Scotland)

Glen Scotia 18 yo 1992 (53,3%, Malts of Scotland 2010, cask #429, 199 btl.)

GlenDronach 1972 (cask #705 for LMdW)

GlenDronach 37 yo 1972 (53,3%, OB 2009 for LMdW, oloroso cask #705, 399 btl.)