GLENGOYNE 12YO CASK STRENGTH - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Not long ago I reviewed the new Glengoyne Cask Strength Batch 2 - a bottling that replaced the old 12yo Cask Strength version... and by chance I just recently stumbled across a version of the old 12yo version, so in the name of whisky science, I had to get one of the those to compare with...

In my previous post you'll find, that I don't mind a NAS whisky, as long as it carries the qualities that the batch 2 version does (and I'm told the batch 1 is even better)... but it'll now come down to if 12 years of maturation does wonders or if its just a number within the Glengoyne hierarchy - 'cause the batch 2 is really good!

My recent purchase for comparison purposes ;-) © The Malt Desk

Glengoyne 12yo Cask Strength 57,2%, Distillery bottling

Colour is light amber

Nose:
Hello there, much more sherry evident that in the CS batch 2... but I guess that's a dead give away anyway looking at the colour, which is the natural colour, so no E150 caramel colouring added - this has not been chill filtered either, BTW.

As with sherry influences at this level, there's the usual dried fruit notes in here, slightly dirty notes that goes away after a short while, lots of malt and oak spices, in fact pretty noticeable oak spices - but they're never over the top. The whole thing calms down after a while revealing an underlying vanilla and honey chocolate bar sweetness and incredible clean crisp malt, just like in the batch 2

Taste:
Very mouth filling... again with the spices and sherry on full frontal attack here. Very nice, indeed! Raisins, honey, oranges, walnut bitterness, back to honey and malt, strong tea and a rush of oak spices, mainly peppery ones and spirit soaked plums.

Phew, this is hard call to make... I like both the style of the NAS Cask Strength version and this one... but I also like my sherried whisky and, unlike in the NAS Cask Strength version, I do not get slight feinty notes and this 12yo seem like a more balanced whisky compared to the NAS version.

Like in my previous review, I don't give ½ points, which would have made this one climb to 87½... but it still isn't good enough to make it to 88...

87/100! ...because the styles are so close, yet so far a part...

Remember to compare the above with my review of the Cask Strength Batch 2 from July 23rd this year... you'll find that here

GLENGOYNE CASK STRENGTH BATCH 2 - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Glengoyne is one of those distilleries that live pretty much a quiet life in the shadow of the popularity of peated whiskies and high profiled distilleries.

You can easily visit Glengoyne Distillery. It's located not that far outside Glasgow and can be reached by bus - there's actually a bus stop right outside the distillery... pretty convenient if you'll be having a few drams there :-) The bus ride is about 45 mins from Glasgow or 25 mins by car if you do decide to drive there. They have several tours to choose from (which is good)  - you can read more about that on the Glengoyne website.

Being completely unpeated, Glengoyne produces a crisp and malty dram, mainly from ex-bourbon and sherry casks, although the odd wine cask sometimes get used as well. This will only be the second Glengoyne I'll be reviewing here on The Malt Desk, and its a bottle that has really grown on me these past couple of months in spite of being a NAS bottling - now, that is something as I've had a few rants on here about NAS bottlings. This one, however is really good quality, but I also suspect not there hasn't gone as much really young whisky into this one, as we maybe see in NAS bottlings from other distilleries.

Sadly, I've seen this one go up almost £10/€12 in those 2 months at a particular large UK online retailer - from £44.95 to £54.35 - which suddenly makes this one less attractive... but thankfully this can still be found at around €45 in selected mainland Europe webshops. On a more happy note, I'm really glad I have shares in 2 casks of Glengoyne - an American oak sherry cask and a European oak ditto, though its going to be a while before they get bottled - they've only just turned whisky (3yo).

Now on to the review...

Glengoyne Distillery - Picture from Wikimedia

Glengoyne Cask Strength Batch 2 58,9%, No Age Statement, Distillery bottling

Colour is light amber

Nose:
There's clearly a portion of younger whisky in here. This reeks of fresh malt, half finished baking, overripe fruits and hints of strawberry. After a while some drier notes comes through along with toffee, figs and nuts - bit of cognac and young rum notes in there too along with the nose sensation of walking into a green house/leafy notes. Very expressive nose!

Taste:
Initially a bit strong on the alcohol, but its clean and crisp, probably almost as clean and crisp as they come. There's still some young'ish notes present in here - the whole thing starts off very sweet on vanilla and sugar cane / demerara-style sugars only to turn drier, moving away from salivating malt. It has dried fruits, orange peel and clear sherry notes which gets more evident with time - it also has some dried and wet tobacco leaves lurking in the background. The finish is longer than expected, delivering tons of sweet barley notes. This also swims very well so if you try this, don't be afraid to add a good splash of water. You should expect, though, that adding water will move the sherry notes to the background but instead give you a lovely head on malt driven attack on your palate.

This is a mix of some pretty active younger sherry casks mixed with maybe some refill ones and a couple bourbon casks (my opinion - not a fact!) and it works like a charm here... Now, I've read somewhere that this thing could as old as 12 years, but I doubt that really... I'm sure if it had they'd put it on the label ;-) I'll go as far as to agree to that there might a some 12yo Glengoyne in the mix, but the majority is still younger - I'm guessing around 8yo.

Anyway, if all NAS whiskies were like this, there would be less of an outcry against them... This is good stuff!

86/100!

Post amended on 10th August 2014:
Please also have a read here where I compare this version to the 12yo Cask Strength version that the above expression is a replacement for....

GLENGOYNE 1986 23YO - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

I'm doing this post sitting in the common area of The Ghillies Cottage at Macallan in Speyside - Craigellachie to be exact, where (of course) I'm trying some nice whisky. I'm on this trip to get to know a new range of whiskies - but more on that in a post later this month.

This time, I'll just do a review as tiredness has kicked in and I'd be better off sleeping than spending time online... but hey, I admit it... I'm a bit of an online addict - but then who isn't these days, right?

The review this time is a Glengoyne 1986 Single Cask release bottled in 2009.
Now, Glengoyne is - in a time where peated whisky is very popular - one of the few distilleries that uses completely unpeated malt in their production - using only hot air to dry their malt.

Anyway, its getting late and its been a long day, so I'll rush straight on to the review...

Glengoyne 1986 23yo (10.04.1986/30.09.2009) 53,6%, european sherry oak butt#399, 548 bottles, Distillery bottling

Colour is light amber

Nose:
Mint - as in 'After Eight' dessert chocolates, very clean and crisp malt, some oranges in here too and a honeyed sweetness, vanilla and thin breakfast tea. Apples too...

Taste:
Some beautiful thick oily malt juice and a coating layer of honey and cooked apple. Almost syrupy, tea again, decaying oranges/mustiness??, Cognac, a little milk chocolate and dried fruit... oh, and more mint on the finish.

A very nice Glengoyne, I like it for its crispy cleanliness...

87/100!