Scottish Whisky

Glenfarclas 25 Year Old London Edition Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside /

Glenfarclas 25 Year Old London Edition Exclusive to The Whisky Exchange
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

50.5% ABV
$400
Website
Glenfarclas 25 Yr Old London Edition The Whiskey Exchange Exclusive

What the Retailer Says

Made at Glenfarclas distillery and matured in oloroso sherry casks for a quarter of a century before being bottled to celebrate The Whisky Exchange’s 20th Anniversary. Aromas of meadow flowers, baked apples, barley sugar and buttery brioche fill the nose, developing into earthy coffee and sweet raisins. The palate opens with notes of fruit cake, salted caramel and rich oak, developing buttery pastry, raisins and fruity espresso flavours and dry waxiness.

This bottle features a specially-created label, designed by our creative director Raj Chavda to pay tribute to London’s vibrant hospitality industry.

Tasting Notes (courtesy of Billy Abbott, The Whisky Exchange)
Nose: Meadow flowers and barley sugar sit on top of a pile of sultanas and baked apples. Fragrant wax-polished oak follows, with freshly scraped vanilla pods and a touch of pine sap. Buttered brioche and fruit loaf notes develop along with mixed peel and a hint of cream. Hiding underneath is a bed of Eccles-cake raisins and earthy ground coffee.
Palate: Rich and oily, with well-fruited sponge cake leading to salted caramel and old oak tables. Singed, buttered toast and buttery pastry are wrapped around fruity espresso and raisins. Dried apple rings liberally spread with blackcurrant jam and sprinkled with brown sugar sit in the middle. Behind everything is an elegant waxiness and freshly polished pine boards.
Finish: Lingering sweet spice, light char, sultanas and a touch of hay and honeysuckle.
Comment: An elegant Glenfarclas. The sherry punch of the regular 25 year old is dialled back to reveal orchard fruit as well as a layer of rich dried vine fruit and peel. Espresso notes run through the middle, making sure things don’t get too sweet and reminding us that this came from an oloroso cask.

What Gary Says

Nose: Raisins, plums, leather, figs, orange peel, floral notes with a hint of sulfur in the back.
Palate: Creamy mouthfeel with fruit cake, caramel, raisins, bits of dark chocolate, honey, and a hint of gingerbread.
Finish: Long and syrupy with dates, sherry and chocolate.
Comments: I had the pleasure of doing a side-by-side tasting of this with the retail Glenfarclas 25 Year (43% ABV), and this was hands down a better whisky. Much darker in the glass, with a note that was deeper and richer. That 7.5% ABV does quite a lot! There was a resemblence, but this was taking the Glenfarclas 25 Year and turning the volume to 11. Just absolutely delicious! The fine folks at the Whiskey Exchange are good at this, as this is my favorite Glenfarclas to date, followed by their exclusive 15 year offering that’s not longer available.

Rating: Must Try

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Deanston 1995 26 Year Old Gleann Mór Rare Find

/ / Highland, Review, Scottish Whisky /

Deanston 1995 26 Year Old Gleann Mór Rare Find
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

52.2% ABV
$200-$250
Website
Rare Find Gleann Mor Spirits Company Deanston 26 Years Old

What the Bottle Says

RARE FIND – Gleann Mór Spirits Company
Single Malt Scotch Whisky Distilled at Deanston
Bottled from Cask No. 4392A
Aged 26 Years
Aromas of baked apples, Christmas cake and cinnamon; ginger sponge and almond pastries on the palate with a warming, spiced dried fruit finish.
Distilled 195 | Bottled 0222
Non-chill Filtered | Natural Colour
52.2% alc/vol

What Gary Says

Nose: Spongecake, pineapple, coconut, figs, almonds, pears and lemon squares.
Palate: Thick and creamy mouthfeel with chocolate fudge, hazelnut, apples, lemon, bit of raisins, honey and cinnamon.
Finish: Long, thick and syrupy with baking spices and chocolate malt.
Comments: I haven’t had any experience (that I can recall at least) with Deanston, but this is just delicious! On some sites (namely Whiskybase and reddit) this offering shows to be finished in sherry, while on other sites it shows a single bourbon cask for the entire duration. I’ve seen images of other 26 year old Deanston that isn’t nearly as dark, so I’m not entirely sure. If it was sherry finished, it was done so exquisitely and with a deft hand, bringing some notes I’d associate with that (chocolate fudge, figs raisins) but just adding another dimension without overshadowing what the bourbon cask brought to the party. This has intensity of flavor with a delicate complexity – absolutely delightful dram!

Rating: Must Try

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A Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky 2022 Edition

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

A Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky 2022 Edition
Blended Scotch Whisky

50.5% ABV
$110
Website
A Good Old-Fashioned Christmas Whisky 2022 Edition Blended Scotch Whisky

What the Bottle Says

Rich complex malts and the most elegant aged grain whiskies combined to create festive flavours and evoke the spirit of Christmases past
The Whisky Exchange
This festive marriage brings together rich sherry-matured whisky from Blair Athol with elegant old grain from Strathcylde and Cameronbridge, classic Speyside malt from Glen Elgin and spicy new-oak-matured Linkwood to create a dram that’s packed with Christmas flavour. Plum pudding and sticky toffee with apples, oranges and shortbread on the side – the perfect accompaniment to the festive season.

What Gary Says

Nose: Fruity, chocolate fudge, orange zest, pears, apples, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and a hint of a mineral note.
Palate: Creamy mouthfeel, fruity with apples, raisins, plums, oranges, cinnamon, pepper, candied ginger, honey, apricots and oak.
Finish: Moderate in length with spice notes, chocolate and honey.
Comments: The nose on this reminds me of mincemeat pie – which definitely takes my mind to the holiday season! I bought this at auction on a whim (for £50, which was around $64 USD at the time). The recommended retail price was £85 ($109) so a solid discount, even with the hammer price. My only regret is that Richard happened to buy a 2023 edition of this, giving me a sample that unfortunately didn’t have a good seal (and in recent years I’ve accumulated quite the backlog, so it’s been over a year since I got it). So I can’t compare this to that edition unfortunately, but based on this sample size – despite it being non-age stated I would pay retail for it (and in fact, just won an auction on a 2024, so look forward to bringing that comparison next year!)

Rating: Must Try

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Tomintoul Cigar Malt Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside /

Tomintoul Cigar Malt
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

43% ABV
$80-$130
Website
Tomintoul Cigar Malt Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

What the Distillery Says

Tomintoul Cigar Malt is an intricate combination of classic Tomintoul Single Malts and rare peated Tomintoul Single Malts. Each of these individual single malts have been either matured fully or finished in hand-selected Oloroso Sherry butts, sourced from Andalucía, Spain.

The rich and sweet sherry notes, creamy malt profile and gentle peat smoke make this single malt the perfect accompaniment to the world’s finest cigars.

Tasting Notes
Nose: Bold and pronounced with aromas of dried fruits, sweet spices, pecan pie and subtle peat smoke.
Palate: Sweet and rich with layers of chocolate raisins, butter toffees and brambles mingled with black pepper and smoky woody spices.
Finish: Warming and long with notes of mocha, maple syrup and toasted oak lingering on the tongue.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Plums, figs, mincemeat pie, smoke, leather, bit of peat and black tea.
Palate:  Chocolate, hazlenut, figs, blackberries, oak, pepper and caramel.
Finish:  Moderate in length with honey, dark fruit, medium roast coffee and smoke.
Comments:  This is nice! Smokey but balanced well with just a bit of peat. I haven’t had a lot of experience with Tomintoul, but I can imagine that this would pair nicely with a cigar (note I have to use my imagination as despite several attempts, I just don’t like cigars). But despite that lack of pairing, this has been a delightful summer sipper!

Rating: Stands Out

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Tullibardine 25 Year Old

/ / Highland, Review, Scottish Whisky / ,

Tullibardine 25 Year Old
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

43% ABV
$300
Website
Tullibardine 25 year Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

What the Distiller Says

This whisky was matured for a minimum of 25 years in ex-sherry Hogsheads. It is beautifully aged with wonderful hues of red, orange and brown. Amazingly, no oaky notes appear at all for a whisky of this age. You’ll instead find subtle vanilla, toffee and orange chocolate. Tullibardine 25 Year Old has an incredible viscous quality that fills the mouth with baked banana, orange peel and a long, creamy, silky finish.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Soft and subtle, cereal notes, heather, peaches, grapes, apricots, kiwi, vanilla, oak and cedar.
Palate:  Creamy mouthfeel with butterscotch, orange marmalade, bit of cinnamon, golden raisins, and malt.
Finish:  Moderately long and damp with honey and cereal malt.
Comments:  Very subtle; in fact at first blush it reminds me a bit of a single grain whisky. A polite dram, that isn’t off-putting but honestly was a bit of a let down. I managed to pick this one up on auction for £120 (after hammer price and shipping was around $230, less than retail locally). I wasn’t familiar with the distillery, but with 20+ year single malt I had hoped for more depth and complexity than I got (although I’ve read several reviews that found a lot more of that, so this could just fall into the “apparently not my type” category).

Rating: Average/Stands Out

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