Girvan 24 (1994) Single Cask Cask Strength (Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask)

Rating: 12/23 Bottle kill. This has had plenty of time in its bottle and I've tried it on several occasions, but I've never been a particular fan. N: Lemon peel and some slightly dirty water, like a kitchen rag that needs washing. Over a few minutes, that rag flavor starts to fade and I get more of that biting grain whisky character with a little manuka honey. Maybe a hint of orange zest. It's still a kind of rough nose, but it's definitely improved. Leaving it for a bit longer, I do start to notice the dirty rag scent again though. P: Lemon peel with very slightly undercooked caramel, a harsh grainy bite, something a little funky (almost hogo), and bitter mocha. A stroke of cherry or something comes out of the hogo. It's an odd combination that isn't as obtrusive as I remembered, but definitely isn't super enjoyable. For me, the biggest problems are the harshness and that bit of dirty rag flavor. If those were both resolved, this would still taste a bit young and funky, but it wouldn't have any actual flaws. With a bigger sip, the grain alcohol really burns. F: The mocha, hogo, dirty rag, and bright lemony grain linger for a bit. The caramel too, faintly. - Conclusion - This has a more interesting profile than Compass Box Artist's Blend (13/23), with a richer flavor. This is, however, harsher with that odd dish rag funk and not the best balance. The two drams are honestly closer than I'd expected. I spent a while before this tasting thinking that this should maybe drop from a 12 to something like a 10 or 11. I no longer think that. Identifying the hogo and mocha here really changed things for me. Those two flavors explain most of the weird notes I was getting before, making them actually kind of good. This is suddenly, a much richer, more decadent dram. Monkey Shoulder (14/23) is smoother than this, with no objectionable notes, but it also tastes watery and surprisingly youthful in comparison to this. At this point, were it not for the harshness here, I'd be considering some higher ratings, possibly even above a 14. As it is, given my past history with this dram, I don't think I can suddenly raise its rating past a 13. And considering the harshness here, I don't really think I can go as high as a 13. It's a shame because this bottle kill was almost a revelation for me.

Nose initially is really faint citrus, maybe some lemon bar. After several minutes in the glass some manuka honey, caramel, toffee and French roast coffee notes appear. Still very restrained, yet pleasant. Palate is semisweet and also restrained with lemon, caramel, toffee, pastry and mocha coffee notes. Finish is on the shorter side and makes me think of having a buttered scone with mocha frappuccino. Thanks to @ContemplativeFox for the sample.

Rating: 12/23 I got my first shot of the CoViD vaccine today, so I felt I needed to celebrate. It was a unique experience running around town trying to find a spare vaccine and a bizarre delight when I finally got to have a needle stuck in my arm. A unique and uncertain whisky seemed appropriate for this occasion. And then I remembered I had this 24 year old Girvan independent bottling on my shelf. Bottle 100 of 146? Pretty unique. Single grain used to produce both Grant's AND Clan MacGregor? Seems pretty uncertain whether this will be any good. And so I opened it. N: There's a funky bit of meatiness to the nose. It's less sulfuric than many meat smells that come out of distillates, but it's there. Aside from that, it's tart citrus - quite lemony. Some floral scents start to come out too. I'm really just not getting much else going on here though. P: This is more interesting than the nose suggests! It's fuller and sweeter up front with some nice maltiness coming in before the oily lemon peel tartness hits with a waft of lemon flower aroma. The bourbon barrel isn't terribly strong, but it adds some nice complexity here with layers of vanilla, spice, and mild caramel. There is a bit of a mellow woodiness going on here, but it isn't super strong. I still get some youthfulness from the underlying grain of the original distillate in here for sure, but the long, gentle aging has mellowed it, removing most of the unappealing parts. The balance here is good and the complexity is solid, albeit quite subtle. There's definitely harshness, but it isn't as much of a problem as I'd expected it to be because it combines with the spices, lemon, and caramel in a way that kind of works. The low cask strength makes this sippable without any water added. Somehow, the caramel and mustiness make me think a little bit of Balcones Single Malt and the mustiness mixed with the wood makes me think just a tad of Garrison Brothers Small Batch. I don't think that those are actually very similar to this, but it reminds me of them just a tad in those areas. F: The finish suffers from the lingering harshness. - Conclusion - Knowing that this is a single grain aged in a bourbon barrel, I can actually believe that it's 24 years old. I'm bad at guessing the age of single grains though. It tastes more like what I would normally expect from a 12 to 15 year old scotch, but there's this extra musty complexity that really enhances it. Still, I fund the musty age in Càrn Mòr's 26 year old Glen Grant from 1992 (bottled at a similar proof) to be much more compelling due to its greater richness, complexity, and balance. This definitely tastes younger and less developed (albeit oilier). The Glen Grant also has a cleaner, more refined flavor than many other scotches. Actually, I'm really starting to appreciate this Glen Grant a lot more now - it's definitely seeming better than Dalwhinnie 15 with its really clean flavor. Does it really only deserve a 16? Maybe I'm starting to understand why Jim Murray likes Glen Grant 18 so much. I think I'll need to re-review this Glen Grant. But I'm supposed to be tasting Girvan at the moment. Between this and Dalwhinnie 15 (not a great comparison, but it's what I've got), I'd probably have guessed that the Dalwhinnie was older (again, unless I realized that this was a single grain and that they sort of "age slower"). the oiliness here is what holds this together. I'm not sure whether or not this tastes more aged than Highland Park 12 (another poor comparison). This is harsher, but Highland Park 12 is more sulfuric. I think I would probably assume that this is older because I can interpret harshness as being a single grain, but pungent sulfur almost always means youth. Yeah, I'm going with that. It also seemed appropriate to side-by-side this with the infamous Pure Scot (inflicted on us by Bladnoch, lest we forget). Pure Scot is surprisingly less harsh, but it's also more muddled. The Pure Scot may be richer, but its flavors just aren't as good as the ones here by a long shot. The oiliness in the Girvan again helps, providing a counterpoint to the Pure Scot's richness. Still, I can see why someone might prefer the Pure Scot, and that is not good for the Girvan. Càrn Mòr's Cambus 27 (1991) has a similar grain profile with its youthfulness and harshness, but it's a bit funkier with less oil. I'd probably take the Cambus for its uniqueness, but this is easier to sip. Hopping over to the Balcones and Garrison Brothers, I can confirm that this has elements of them present. This also reminds me a bit of Buffalo Trace in how simplistically it represents its category, but I am getting more age out of the Girvan. I keep whipsawing between appreciating the maturity here and being put off by its youthful elements and middling complexity. I'm thinking a 12 to 14 here, but I could believe an 11 to 15. I think I'd be pretty happy giving this a 13 right now. It's an experience well worth trying because that interesting maturity comes out and the oiliness helps to carry it, but it isn't something that I would really want a bottle of. I think an argument could be made that this is on the same level as the Cambus, but that's about as high as it goes. I currently have Cambus at a 13, but I think it might actually deserve a 14. I'm thinking that this one is probably in the 12 to 13 range. I was leaning toward a 13, but I think I'm going to go with a 12 for now. This seems like it would be a good component of a blend, but it isn't amazing on its own.