Glengoyne 12 Year

Honey and shortbread nose. Touch of toffee Pleasant, smooth. Honey and shortbread taste, no surprises here. Toffee finish.

Pleasant but unremarkable

This was one of my favorite single malts when I was getting into Scotch. Friendly, approachable, but offers quality as well. Those are my impressions, as I can recall. Let's see how it holds up years later. Nose: It's a faint nose. Vanilla, caramel, toffee, malt, lemon drop and fruit. Apple, pear, apricot, orange, and golden raisin. A touch of banana and coconut, as well as some oak. Small puff of sulfur. Other than that it's generally pleasant, though lacking any unique or robust qualities. Palate: Very similar to the nose, though now with more presence. Caramel, vanilla, toffee, and malt. More of the apple, pear, orange, coconut, banana, apricot, white grape, and golden raisin. Floral and custard notes replace the sulfur. Very similar to the nose, but manifests much better. Nice taste. Finish: The sherry finally reveals itself with some plum, red grape, and raisin. There's also more of the caramel, vanilla, toffee, and malt that really dominates this dram. Some clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and oak. Moderate length. Weak nose aside, this is a solid whisky. This is the archetypal Highland single malt flavor profile. If I were looking to get someone started with Scotch, this would be one of the first bottles I pulled. And while it's no longer as exciting as it used to seem, it's still a damn good pour. And a good value to boot. $55 is about average by me for an entry level single malt. This is one up from the Glengoyne 10 which, is their entry level malt. Got my money's worth with this one.

Lots of initial flavor but not real complex. Sweet with tastes of sherry, oak, lemon zest, and vanilla.