Glenglassaugh Torfa

Butterscotch in a burnt forest after a rain storm. Beautiful presentation - Natural color, non-chill filtered, & 50% ABV.

Rating: 16/23 I've heard good things about this one, but I'm worried because I didn't like the Glenglassaugh Evolution much even though many other people did. Still, peat is a good choice when dealing with a young whisky. N: Grassy then peaty with a bit of a nectar sweetness. I get a dash of faint red fruit that makes me think a little of barbecue. Then just some char that brings out more of that impression. The peat isn't super strong and neither is the distillate nor barrel influence. This reminds me a bit of something like Corsair Wildfire. The Wildfire has more mesquite, herbal, and wood scents. Leaving this for couple of minutes, the peat really comes out more with some clear iodine and it smells like a moderately peated scotch. It doesn't smell particularly exciting, but it does smell more like what it is. I still get some odd scents though. Besides black pepper, I get white pepper and even rainbow pepper. And there's still this bit of campfire smoke. It's a little sweet like barbecued ribs, but only at times. P: It's surprisingly smooth and even a dash viscous, though the fullness isn't really there. It's got lots of smoky dry grass with some herbal peat flavors, hints of tangerine and cherry, maybe a layer of vanilla. Perhaps a hint of cinnamon. I get a bit of mineral flavor that at times approaches salty sea spray. It's actually pretty balanced and approachable. There's also some maltiness bordering on caramel that betrays the youth here. There's decent complexity and balance, but nothing super exciting happening here and it's definitely a bit young. Lightly waxy like F: Smoky dry grass. A bit of citrus. Some light herbal flavors. - Conclusion - This is the best Glenglassaugh I've tried. It isn't as complex as Glenglassaugh's Pedro Ximenez Sherry Wood Finish (which was shockingly complex for a PX finish), but it's complex enough and has way better balance with just a nicely enjoyable flavor. This isn't as full as Glenglassaugh Evolution by a solid margin and it isn't as full as the PX Finish either. Let's do some rapid side-by-siding. Corsair Wildfire tastes more mature and complex after being open for about a year. This actually reminds me of why I loved the Wildfire so much the first time I tried it. This can't match that complexity, which I think is at most a 19. So a 19 is the upper limit here. Even after trying that campfire-heavy dram, this gives me a bit of a campfire vibe on the palate and especially on the nose. Amrut Peated has much more of a tart and pure sort of waxy flavor with some yeastiness to it going on. It's drier with a much cleaner profile. This is sweeter with some more stuff going on. I can't blame anyone for choosing one over the other, suggesting that this is probably at least in the ballpark of the 17 that I gave the Amrut (though perhaps that was a tad high). Westland Peated goes in an entirely different direction with its funky papery ale flavor that's quite complex, but also a bit thin and clearly very young. The light peat there has nothing on the richness and fullness here. This is also more complex and more balanced by traditional standards. I think I overrated Westland Peated last time I tried it. I still really enjoy its quirky ale profile, but I don't think it's all that great of a whiskey now. Westward is fuller and richer with more complexity from its even funkier ale profile (though my Westward bottle has been open for a couple of years now, whereas my Wesland bottle has been open for only a couple of hours). I would definitely take the Torfa over the Westland. I don't think that the Torfa is bad by any means, but I think that statement says more about the Westland than about the Glenglassaugh. The difference is shockingly decisive. Laphroaig Quarter Cask definitely has more peat and funk, but it also has more of that moldy bread character. This may be young, but it's sweeter and less challenging. I think that I'd take the Laphroaig between the two, though probably not by any more than 2 points. I would consider the Laphroaig to be more challenging, but this to be a less traditional scotch. This strikes me as a complex but slightly light and rough around the edges product that has lots of potential and is already quite sippable. This is sort of in that Shin 10 territory of being either interesting because of how much it has going on or off-putting because it's odd. This coheres better than Shin 10, but it's ligher than anything else that I've tried side-by-side. I'd probably say that Laphroaig Quarter Cask and Amrut Peated are better. The Amrut has a better core flavor and the Laphroaig has a more traditional profile with increased richness and not tremendously less complexity than this has. Shin 10 also seems better because it's richer, though the off-kilter balance does give me pause. Westland Peated has its own profile, but it strikes me as less complex and less mature than this, so I would take the Torfa over it. I'm torn between a 16 and a 17 here. I think I'm going to land on a 16, but either score makes this decidedly the highlight of Glenglassaugh's line. Whoa, this is only $50?! I wouldn't call it a screaming deal at that price, but it gives mainstays like Laphroaig and Ardbeg runs for their money at that price.

Interesting stuff. Nose: Vanilla, Peaches, Smoke, Marshmallows, Iodine, Cherries, Sea Salt, Brine, Hay, Almonds, Orange Creamsicle, Sea Salt, Bacon Palate: Vanilla, Oranges, Peaches, Bananas, Coconuts, Cherries, Chili Peppers, Smoke Finish: Vanilla, Smoke, Salted Caramel, Peaches, Marshmallows, Cherries

Nice hot finish! But definitely not peaty like I use to have..