This Glen Grant 1959 is the third bottling in the Mr George Legacy series from Gordon & MacPhail. The esteemed independent bottlers are honouring Gorge ‘Mr George’ Urquhart, the second generation of the company owners and a true pioneer of single malt whisky.
This Glen Grant is the final cask from that vintage in the bottler’s inventory. It was produced when the distillery still made a lightly peated spirit using directly fired stills. In short, the whisky is an opportunity to try the traditional style of Speyside single malt.
Check our review of the Glen Grant 1953 and Glen Grant 1957 that started the series.
Glen Grant 63 yo 1959 ‘Mr George Legacy’ (56,5%, Gordon & MacPhail 2023, first fill sherry butt #3665, 368 btl.)
Nose: a kind of oriental, fragrant profile that is different from what you’d expect. Hardly any dark, dried fruits for instance. Instead I’m getting apricots and tangelos, dried pineapple slices, with orange peel oils and golden raisins. A drop of Yquem? Sour berries and hints of old rum too. Then a kitchen cupboard filled with herbs, pine needles, walnuts and fresh eucalyptus. Beeswax and propolis. Subtle cedar in the background, as well as a light smokiness indeed. An evolved, resinous kind of peat.
Mouth: red berries move forward now, still combined with peach compote and riasins. Light resinous notes and wax. Dried herbs. Then back to fruit tea, leading to mentholated notes, herbal honey and puffs of smoky wood. Light tobacco notes, some mineral oils and eucalyptus. Slightly darker cocoa with peppercorns towards the end.
Finish: quite long, with eucalyptus, cinnamon and mild resins, as well as hints of citrus fruits. The smoky echo stays stronge.
While it’s not the dark sherry profile we could have expected, this is equally impressive – perhaps more impressive because it defies categorisation. The name is misspelled, this is a Glen Grand. Around £ 6500, available from Master of Malt, HTFW or The Whisky Exchange for instance.