As we keep on plugging our way through the fifth round of distillery samples, I’ve stumbled upon this Highland single malt from Glen Ord: the 11 year old. It’s an independent bottle from AD Rattray and comes in at a cask strength of 58.9%. This sample was provided by my friend @PBMichiganWolverine, from NJ. It’s a beautiful light gold in the Glencairn while appearing quite oily, but making no legs when you give it a spin. The nose is oak and alcohol to the point it’s borderline offensive. There’s a hint of green apples and some other orchard fruits, but you can’t stick your nose in there for too long- it just burns too much. The palate is very dry, hot and unnecessarily harsh. I’ve read the other guy’s reviews to this point and they all said to add water, but seeing as how their impressions didn’t improve- I just said “F it” and suffered through the pain. There were hints of apple sweetness, but I didn’t worry about investigating it further. I just slammed back the last of the sample and waited out the finish. Well, the finish is blazingly hot and dry. At no point did I even contemplate ways to improve any part of this whisky. Just get it over with! Lol. I wanted to curse my friend for subjecting me to this insane single malt, but alas, it isn’t his fault. We just need to power through these abominations and keep on moving. I don’t even want to give this one a score because I truly hope Glen Ord produces something better than this train wreck. Maybe once this tour is over I’ll invest a little bit of money and seek out a different Glen Ord, but this one is truly a disaster. Cheers to drinking better things.