Speyside

Glen Grant Five Decades Single Malt Scotch Whiskey
46% ABV
$250
Website

What the Distillery Says:
Five Decades of Excellence
Glen Grant Five Decades is a single malt specially crafted by Dennis Malcolm to celebrate and pay homage to his five decades of experience with Glen Grant. Dennis has hand-selected his favorite casks, which he personally laid down over the last Five Decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s). By marrying together these slowly aged casks, each of which has reached its peak of maturity, he has created a rich yet mellow Single Malt with unusual depth and complexity. This whisky is carefully hand-selected to deliver the distinctive smooth, fruity and rich taste experience for which Glen Grant is renowned.

Scotch Whisky as it Should Be
As the scotch category has burgeoned, rival spirits have attempted to differentiate themselves through excessively peaty flavors and exagerated “dark” editions – all gimmicks meant to catch eyes, not taste buds. Glen Grant’s Dennis Malcolm, probably the most experienced master distiller in Scotland, cut his teeth as an apprentice cooper in the distillery in which he is now leading the effort to re-introduce Scotch in its purest form: a beautifully light and excessibly drinkable whisky. As the only Speyside Distillery to bottle every whisky on site, Glen Grant is a fitting face to the scotch category, producing scotch whisky as it should be.

Glen Grant is as famous for innovation as it is for its scotch. The founder, James Grant, was the first to install electric lighting in a distillery, and established the distilleries signature pot stills – some of the tallest in Scotland. These taller stills help achieve the delicacy signature to Glen Grant’s scotches; during distillation, vapors from the fermented solution rise, and taller stills allow the vapor to escape, resulting in a unique light color and easy taste. It is safe to say that the scotch category continues to benefit from this historic distilleries’ progressive, yet respectfully traditional outlook on whisky distillation.

Tasting Notes
Appearance: Light golden barley
Bouquet: A rich and smooth marriage of vanilla, honey and oroloso sherry
Palate: Mouth-feel of orange blossom and honey, intensely creamy, with sweet toffee and mellow raisin fruit
Finish: Smooth and fruity lingering aftertaste

What Richard Says:
Nose: Sherry jumps out first but not in an aggressive way. It just make’s itself known. There’s a buttery back note hiding behind the sherry.
Palate: Nice initial sweetness reminding me of toffee ice cream and poached pears and it transitions into a grain/cereal type flavor.
Finish: Subtle but you know it’s there and it has a decent length. Like the quiet gentleman in the corner of the room listening in on the conversation. A creamy oak note is the main bit but it’s not in your face like a whiskey that’s spent too much time in the cask.
Comments: Very nice dram. A true standout. It’s not going to change the face of scotch but that’s not really Glen Grant’s thing. They just make damn fine whiskey that you’re never opposed to drinking.
Rating: Stands Out

I’d like to thank Nick and the folks at exposureusa for providing me with a sample to review.

Glen Grant Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 10 Years
40% ABV
$30 to $45+
Website

What the Distillery Says:
Our 10 Year Old single malt brings an added intensity to Glen Grant’s familiar orchard fruits. Rich in colour, it lingers in the mouth with a soft, almond finish. 10 Year Old, 40%

Appearance: Rich golden barley
Bouquet: Medium/Dry, with a good balance of ripe orchard fruits
Palate: Creamy, fruity
Finish: Intense, fruity
Whisky style: Gentle, elegant Speyside Single Malt with hints of hazelnut
Cask type: Matures in Bourbon casks

What Richard Says:
Nose: Floral and fruity with hints of treacle.
Palate: Light, clean, and ridiculously drinkable. Creamy notes of vanilla and straw.
Finish: Light and dry.
Comments: Okay, so this isn’t the most flavorful or popular single malt out there but oh my it’s drinkable. This one of those whiskies that if you’re not careful you’ll be halfway done with the bottle before you know it. When this rolled out to the U.S. a while back you could get it for $30 or less. Now it’s in the $40 to $50 range. At $30 it’s an easy Must Buy but at current prices it’s only a stand out for it’s drinkability.
Rating: Stands Out

Cragganmore Highland Single Malt Aged 12 Years
40% ABV/80 Proof
$50
Website

What the Distillery Says:
Speyside today is widely revered for its sublime malt whiskies and for its fine salmon fishing. It is here, in this fertile triangle of land between mountain and sea, long been known as the Garden of Scotland, that Cragganmore single malt whisky is distilled.

Barley is naturally a major crop, and the presence of Scotland’s fastest flowing river – together with peat from the uplands to the south – was the reason original Cragganmore owner ‘Big’ John Smith felt that it would be the perfect place for the perfect distillery.

And who could argue with his genius? Successive managers of Cragganmore have strived to continue his vision to deliver the sweetest, most complex of malt whiskies. Fruity, honeyed notes are often found and many a taster has talked of fruitcake and toffee flavours.

NOSE – A combination of sweet floral fragrances, riverside herbs and flowers with some honey and vanilla.
BODY – Firm, rounded, light to medium.
PALATE – A strong malty taste with hints of sweet wood smoke and sandalwood
FINISH – A long, malt-driven finish with light smoke and hints of sweetness.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Treacle tarts jump out initially but quickly mellow to a more subtle earthy sweetness. Meaty and herbal with a honey sweetness.
Palate: It starts off very soft and mellow. There is a light floral sweetness to it as it picks up steam toward the finish.
Finish: Dry and spicy. It is a little brawny compared to what you might expect from the palate.
Comments: Why doesn’t Cragganmore get more love? It’s an enormously pleasing dram and stands above the likes of it’s more popular 12 year old brethren like Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, and Macallan. I actually know the answer to my own questions. Diageo prices it out of popularity. At $50 a bottle it’s well above the three Glens and near $10 more than the perennially overpriced Dalmore and Macallan. The value proposition makes it hard to tell you to seek it out over other drams but from taste alone I find it to be a benchmark 12 year old.
Rating: Stands Out

The Glenlivet Archive 21 Years of Age Single Malt Scotch Whisky
43% ABV
$150
Website

What the Distillery Says:
The Glenlivet 21Year Old Archive is a batch produced whisky using only hand-selected casks. It is a complex whisky with sherried and wood notes integrating seamlessly with the aromatic palette. Let the pleasure linger late into the night.

COLOUR
Amber with sparkling copper shades.

NOSE
An opulent, mature nose with a sherry influence. An intricate array of wood and fruit: Christmas cake, sultanas, maraschino cherry. Water enlightens the fruity bouquet and brings out vanilla and lighter notes of ripe peaches. Pear and marzipan pie. Luscious barley sugar aromas.

PALATE
This full-bodied whisky is unctuous and mouth coating, almost syrupy. Oak holds the reins back, releasing a drying spiciness of cinnamon, ginger, walnut and dark chocolate.

FINISH
The finish is everlasting and warming with lingering presence of toasted hazelnuts and a full layer of liquorice.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Sherry, treacle, butterscotch, and malt are the first impressions.
Palate: It creeps in so softly that it almost seems light and then the richness pervades the mouth. Creamy, nutty, and oaky with just the slightest hint of buttery toffee.
Finish: Toasted nuts, white pepper, and oak.
Comments: Really a lovely dram. I was once at a Glenlivet tasting at Morton’s in Atlanta. Towards the end of the night the “leftover” whisky was flowing and Sam and I were chatting over a dram with the brand ambassador. As we look across the room we see a fellow trying to be sneaky and snatch some more 21 while the bartender wasn’t looking. To our horror he filled a Collins glass to the brim with ice and then topped the glass off with the 21. I’m usually not one to tell others how to drink their whisky but this seemed almost criminal. Enjoy the Archive but go light on the ice. 😉
Rating: Stands Out