Tastes

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow Virtual Whisky Tasting 25 June 2020) Amusingly, this bottling had the name of the distillery misspelled on the bottle and packaging! (Glen Garrioch rather than Glen Garioch - oops!) The nose is sugared breakfast cereal. The upfront taste is quite young, with apricot and black pepper. Finish is medium with notes of chocolate cocoa beans. Strangely, this whisky is distilled in Speyside, then transported to Glasgow where it is casked in refilled bourbon hogsheads, so it has quite a few miles on it before it ever sees a bottle Came joint fourth out of the six whiskies, with 5% of the final vote.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow Virtual Whisky Tasting 25 June 2020) This is distilled at the Tomatin Distillery but is quite a different drink. It is peated to 41ppm. 84% of the spirit is 12y/o (where the spirit is finished for 5 years in Japanese Shōchū casks after starting in bourbon casks) and the remainder is 4y/o from virgin oak casks. Biscuity on the nose with some light peat and oak. The palate is more of the same light peat and oak, with a hit of lime and some nutty/herbal notes. Quite a short finish with more of the oak and light peat. A really nice light peaty dram, which is much lighter than you’d expect from 41ppm. Came last out of the six whiskies, with 0% of the final vote. I think it suffered from being first, as this was one my favourites of the tasting.

As soon as you open the bottle, the peat smoke fills the whole room - so you know what to expect from the first taste. As a super heavily peated whisky, it’s probably not a surprise to say that the first taste is heavy on the peat, too. However, there is a balance between the vanilla from the wood and the peat. The peat doesn’t go away, but there’s a softness to it that mixes with more subtle notes of clove, cinnamon and berries. As it develops it mellows into soft, vanilla smoke and leaves a warm cigar-like finish. This is a beautifully complex dram, softer than you would initially expect but still packing a kick. Wonderful!

(Glen Scotia) Liquorice, TCP and iodine upfront, with a kick of funky peat. It’s quite a sweet dram and initially numbs the palate. It tastes slightly young, but that’s not a bad thing if you’re looking for the peat hit. A drop of water brings more of the peat, but seems to dampen more of the subtle tastes instead of opening it out. It finishes with a numbing salty maritime aftertaste which mellows to just leave the smoke and peat.

(Nantou) Ooft! The nose is mild and papery, but you take a sip and wow - peat and smoke smacks you in the face! Hot, spicy, burnt wood. There’s an almost meaty BBQ taste to this one neat. A few drops of water dulls most of the smoke and brings out some light molasses flavours (almost like a rum). It is a much easier drink with water and very pleasant to sip.

(Royal Brackla) I don’t normally like a Royal Brackla, but this is surprisingly good. Upfront there’s some wood and spice - ginger, pepper and dried cinnamon. As it develops you get more dried fruit, treacle and more of the spice. There is a long, slightly sour finish that pleasantly numbs the palate. With a drop of water it’s more of the same. The wood is more present throughout, but with less of the sweet dried fruit.

(Glenlossie) Very smooth and surprisingly mild for a cask strength - you can barely feel it’s 52.9%. This distillery’s output is apparently mostly used in blends (Haig and JW), which does seem a shame for such a smooth dram. A fresh spicy ginger taste upfront, moderately sweet but mainly spicy. The finish has some citrus, more of the ginger and oak with a long finish descending into pepper, ginger and chilli.

(Clynelish) This is an intensely floral and peppery dram. Waxy, and ginger as it develops and spicy on the finish. Water opens it up and mellows it out more than you would expect. There’s some honey and salt with a citrus long aftertaste.

Sample from their Virtual Whisky Tasting on 11th June 2020. The tasting introduced the 6 spirit styles they intend to use for their first release from the distillery due in 2021. The 6 styles are peated and unpeated versions using three distinct cask types - Rye whiskey, Chinkapin oak, and Bordeaux red wine. The While We Wait has been produced in an unnamed Highland distillery “in the West Highlands near a very big loch”, but is designed to be the flavour profile of the whisky they will be producing from their own distillery. Upfront, the whisky does taste young, but it has a very smooth, creamy (almost buttery) character. There are light, smooth smoke and dark fruit notes, which mellows into a dry, tannic (slightly citrus) finish. This is quite an interesting whisky that has a quality feel to it for such a young spirit. It’s not quite there yet for my palate, but I’m looking forward to seeing what their own production is like next year.

It’s hard not to be taken in by the story of this whisky. I know it’s all about the marketing, but it’s a nice little conceit to think you’re drinking something with a similar flavour profile to one that Shackleton himself may have enjoyed. Almost definitely a load of bollocks, but still fun! The first taste is quite alcohol heavy. It then mellows into a caramel and citrus sweetness. The finish is long, sharp and honeyed, with a light buttery aftertaste. It’s not a refined whisky, but there are a few layers of flavour and it’s certainly an easy dram to drink. Overall, it’s not a bad dram, but the story is definitely more interesting than the whisky.