Glen Keith 1970 (Malts of Scotland)

You may have noticed that we’ve had a lot of very old whiskies lately, with very high scores. It’s simply the time of the year. The Whisky Fair, the Fulldram supertasting, the Weedram Masters in two weeks… these events have a big focus on exceptional old stuff. And of course we’re more excited about a
Glen Keith 1970 than the next Glen Wonka 2000.

We were stunned by the Glen Keith 1970 released by The Whisky Agency
a few months ago. Now Malts of Scotland has a similar bottling, probably from a sister cask? This one is slightly darker, more golden coloured.

Glen Keith 40 yo 1970 (47,9%, Malts of Scotland 2011, bourbon hogshead #6042, 163 btl.)

Nose: juicy ripe fruits (pears, gooseberries, peaches, tangerine, banana) with honey. Again a faint “green” edge of soft spices, mint and flowers. Maybe the warm vanilla / coconut side is even slightly bigger here, it seems the TWA version was slightly more acidic? All kinds of beehive notes here (honey, balm, pollen). Leather. Almonds. Wonderfully big and attractive.

Mouth: the same kind of fruitiness, joined by a soft bitterness. Superb pineapple with coconut. Apricot jam. Vanilla. A little cinnamon and pepper. Mint.

Finish: more of the same really, softly oaky and citrusy backed by spices.

Wow, another Glen Keith 1970 of exceptional quality. Personally I think this one has the better nose and the TWA version has the better palate, but differences are very very small and both are exactly my style. Great if you missed out on the other one. Around € 200.

Score: 93/100