[Scotch Review] Glen Garioch 1999 Vintage

I've been looking to try some more Glen Garioch lately, especially after hearing that the entire brand is being dropped from the shelves in Ontario very soon which makes me sad because I really enjoy this distillery. Fortunately for me, I was happy to see that The Caledonian Bar in Downtown Toronto had this bottle around that’s supposed to be releasing in the LCBO soon despite the delisting as their internal checks show about 10-11 cases floating around in a dusty warehouse. But in case it doesn't come at least I have a review for it now!

This vintage of Glen Garioch was aged for 14 years in Oloroso sherry casks and is bottled at 56.3% ABV without colouring or chill filtration and at glorious cask strength, all the pluses I need for what appears to be a quality Glen Garioch. It was retailing in Alberta for $144 CAD, so let’s see if this one does well compared to the 1995 Vintage which the LCBO previously had for $120 CAD.

• Color: Dark Amber

• Nose: Strong sulphur, Rich prunes, coffee beans, woodspice, vanilla, toffee, cocoa, wood tannins, raisin, leather

• Taste: Bold juicy plums, sea salt, sulphur, chocolate, sultanas, vanilla, tea tannins, apple, some pear, lemon citrus, tangerine, worm leather

• Finish: Medium to long with strong orange citrus, candied cherry and spicy oak

Probably one of the craziest noses I’ve had on a Highland scotch in a while. This punches way above its proof to where my ears got a tad hot after the first sip. Leather shows up in the fold after some water gets added as well as some softer spice and chocolate covered fruit. This whisky shows surprising complexity for a short 14 years of maturation and is exactly what I look for in a sherried Highland malt. It’s maybe a tad too spicy at times so add a few drops of water for sure but definitely pick this one up if you see it around.

87 pts

 

Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe to my Instagram and Twitter, linked on the about me on the sidebar, for up to date information on what I'm up to!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.

[Scotch Review] Bruichladdich 2006 Micro-Provenance Series Single Cask for Kensington Wine Market

Hello whisky lovers it's been a while since I haven't updated this blog so I felt bad and decided to be a bit more serious in updating it. So as a treat for you all I'll be sharing some tasting notes for a brand new Bruichladdich single cask that just found its way into Canada!

I've had a few Bruichladdichs and while some in their core range could be seen as semi-letdowns not a single one was bad or even mediocre. So today I'm very excited to try something a little different from this distillery in the form of a single fortified wine cask aged Bruichladdich distilled in 2006 and bottled in 2018 for a solid 11 years of good aging.

The other thing interesting about this whisky is the type of wine used, a fortified wine called rivesaltes. Rivesaltes is a sweet style of fortified wine from the Rivesaltes AOC in the wine region of Lanquedoc-Roussillon and is made from a variety of grapes such as muscat, grenache blanc, grenache noir, grenache gris, malvoisie and macabeu. It can be a red or white variety but this time it seems to be a red variety for this single cask.

This rivesaltes barrique aged bottling of Bruichladdich was selected exclusively for Kensington Wine Market in Calgary, Alberta, Canada from cask number 3307 in warehouse 12. Its produced with chalice barley coming from the Dunlossit Estate on Islay, which has been used previously in an Islay Barley bottling that is also this same year of vintage. It’s bottle number 250 of 270 total bottles and is proofed at a hefty 64.3% ABV. So let's see how this whisky performs at such a young age with such an interesting wine barrel maturation.

• Color: Amber

• Nose: Molasses, cherries, lemon, white pepper, raisins, some mild sulphur notes, vanilla cream, pastry flour, mandarin oranges, wood tannins, minerality and some earthy notes in the background

• Taste: Cherries, raspberries, chocolate croissant, vanilla cream, almond butter, custard, honey, fresh sweet lemons, tobacco leaf, light leather, more earthiness as the flavor develops

• Finish: Medium to long with red fruits, minerality, vanilla candy, almond pastries and wood tannins

My god this is a beast of a dram even at 11 years old. One other person I know who tried this before me said he thinks this one needs some time with a bit of air, and while I’d agree especially with the sometimes overpowering earthiness this one is still a really well composed young whisky. It's got a great dessert palate with some extra earthy and savory complexity that really makes this one a nice bold sipper. The nose could be a bit more interesting and the palate isn't super complex to an extent but those are very small gripes that I can easily overlook because of how well crafted the whisky is for the age and how beautifully enjoyable the finish is. Well done to the team at Kensington Wine Market for bringing this one in, you've made a big fan out of me!

87 pts

 

Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe to my Instagram and Twitter, linked on the about me on the sidebar, for up to date information on what I'm up to!

Current Review Scoring System:

 

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

*Note that all images are owned by their respective owners, The Whisky Laddie does not receive financial compensation for this site's content. If this changes any copyrighted images will be replaced with originals made or solicited by the author of these posts.