Glen Garioch Founder's Reserve

Beautiful sticky legs, with a sticky feel. Aroma is port wine vibes: plum, prune, raisin; very sugary, like fruitcake. Strong yeast presence. Brown sugar, and stewed apple. There is a lot of grainy barley. Flavor is more yeast and stone fruits: plums, dates, what have you. It's so sugary sweet; reminds me of a grainy barleywine. There is a heathery, herbal flavor. The woods peek out at the end, and they are more sherry barrel than any oak. Cinnamon spice. Finish is dark/semi-sweet chocolate and walnuts, but very smoothed out, with only a trace of bitterness. Cherry and sherried barrel wood. Sour red wine. The smoke only comes out at the end, and it's mild vanilla tobacco. It reminds me a lot of something like Glenfiddich or Tomatin: sherried and full of red-purple flavors.

A cognac nose with a lot of heat up front. Dark fruits. Cinnamon. Caramel. Oak. Rich and tangy, but harsh on the finish. A drop of water? Make it 10.

Sweet honey, spice and heather on the nose. Body rich and full, with apple tartness on the finish. Really enjoyable bottle. Drinks smoother than it's 48% would indicate. Would have assumed Speyside.

Caramel, underlying spices