Merry Christmas everyone!
Another example of sherry maturation, this time in a first-fill sherry cask. We’re trying a Glen Grant 1954 from the Rare Vintage series by Gordon & MacPhail.
In partnership with each respective distillery, all whiskies in the Rare Vintage range are uniquely labelled. In years gone by many of these unique designs were used ‘officially’ to bottle the whisky under licence from the distillery (the same goes for yesterday’s Ardmore 1996 by the way).
I don’t think this is a new bottling. The bottling date wasn’t mentioned on the sample and I can only find a 2006 bottling in stores. Update: there’s a 2012 edition as well, so it’s likely to be the “new” one. Thanks, Sjoerd.
Glen Grant 1954 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail 2012)
Glen Grant 1954 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail 2012)Nose: love it. Utterly fruity, with apricots, bananas, ripe strawberries, papayas. Raspberry ganache. Old leather and beeswax. Hints of eucalyptus and lots of exotic woods, giving it a slightly oriental touch. Fruit teas, subtle tobacco notes. Fresh hints of verbena. Sweet and sour Madeira touches as well. It’s deeply sherried but in a wonderfully elegant way.
Mouth: it sets off with a dry, rummy profile. Bananas flambéed, Demerara sugar, cinnamon. Quite a big dose of oak, yes, but juicy oak. Then it picks up fruitiness, in a slightly exotic way again, with a wonderful combo of pink grapefruit and apricot jams, mirabelles and bergamot. Some chestnut crème and mentholated touches. No powerhouse but surprisingly full-bodied and certainly full-flavoured given its strength.
Finish: medium long, with dried fruits, spices, dark chocolate and a drying chalkiness that is well within limits.
I love this style. It’s very rich and fruity and certainly not over-oaked, although all these years in a first-fill cask does give it a sappy, oriental edge. I can see why they picked this one to prove that the wood makes the whisky. Around € 1400.
Score: 94/100