Trent-Thomas
Glen Fohdry Fion Frangach French Oak Cask Finish
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed
July 19, 2021 (edited March 28, 2022)
Glen Fohdry Fion Frangach an NAS release from a Total Wine Exclusive branding. This is agreed in French oak and should impact some routines to the dram. As with others, this is non chill filtered and is bottled at 46.1% the NCF should help or retain its flavor, viscosity and character.
Color - deep caramel color, Golden brown, for an NAS this is probably due to coloring added Post Barrel. The legs are thin and ring indicating the influence of water added and age potentially being on the younger side.
Nose - the nose is particularly weak and requires the nose to be in/on the glass. The nose is sweet fruit, tobacco and malt, not much to be discovered here.
Palate - mild smoke, honey, fruit and tobacco and a hint of spice. The front is astringent and requires priming to increase taste, the taste is fairly well separated and you can taste the menthol flavor in the finish. The bite is very unwelcoming but isn’t a deal breaker.
Considering its price, it’s a nice entry to a French oak scotch, while the influence is deeply limited by timid smokiness and an light fruit and a short finish it needs repetition for appreciation. For some that may be too tall a task considering the shortcomings. I wouldn’t give a recommendation outside of a shareable campfire dram or a daily Speyside that with a splash of water could become relatively palatable, in most other cases this would be a pass.
- The scotch guy
27.0
USD
per
Bottle
Sacramento
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That’s the beauty of drinking scotch—we may not agree or like the same scotches, but I tried my best to be as honest as possible from a point of view having tasted this several times. I have rated several other low-priced scotches and had not found them as astringent as this one. It doesn’t it mean it cannot be appreciated, but since I drink my scotches exclusively neat, this one did not do it for me. Again, this doesn’t mean you have to draw the same conclusions, nor does it mean cost is a sign of better scotch. I liked several entries from this lineup, just not this one specifically. Also, it’s price was the only reason it wasn’t rated much lower—it was not a finely tuned scotch and needed work at best for how I like to approach my drams, any addition to for it to taste better than what is offered out of the bottle is a “negative” consideration in terms of my scoring. Cheers.
I completely disagree with these comments. I feel like he realized his expectations based on the price. I really like this scotch. The flavor reminds me of Glenfiddich 14 or even Oban - which are to my taste. I don't find it astringent or biting. You might say it's hot, but it's 47%. Put an ice cube or a splash in it. I'm really glad I found this scotch. I also tried the 12 year and preferred this. No need to spend $60-100 for a good bottle.