Glen Grant old and very old


July 21, 2023

summer Summer Duets
Today Glen Grant
old and very old

Angus is Mr Glen Grant at WF, I believe he's tasted more of them than anyone at the Distillery. Right, perhaps not as many as the very engaging Dennis Malcolm, their irreplaceable master blender extraordinaire. I for one will be content with these two…

Young men at The Whisky Show London 2022

Glen Grant 24 yo 1998/2022 (56.1%, The Whisky Blues, for The Antelope Macau, Exclusive Bottlings Series, hogshead, cask #6439, 239 bottles)

I have to say we haven't tried many whiskies for Macau this far. And to be honest, we've never been to Macau (booo!) Colour: light gold. Nose: Glen Grant became a fairly thinner whisky over the years (even if they've been using purifiers for decades), but this one's displaying a rather wonderful chalkiness, plus some green and yellow fruits, especially green pears. Greengages and mirabelles are there too. Quince and woodruff syrups as well. With water: perhaps notes of gueuze on top of all that? Mouth (neat): extremely good, partly citrusy, with many orchard fruits, plums and apples… It's just a tad strong to express its full potential, or so it seems. With water: n'import' nawak, as we say in French (which, basically, means B.S. in a more urban style). Water won't change much, it would just make more vanilla stand out, while we believe vanilla is perfect as long as you don't feel it. It's like salt or sugar, you know. Better keep this Glen Grant neat or add only a drop of H2O. Finish: long, clean, grassy, peely, fruity. Lime and lemon in the aftertaste. Comments: it's absolutely excellent, but you cannot quite push it.
SGP:561 - 89 points.

A much older one please…

Glen Grant 63 yo 1959/2023 'Mr George Legacy Third Edition' (56.5%, Gordon & MacPhail, first fill sherry butt, cask #3665, 368 bottles)

Charlie MacLean, who's ten times smarter and twenty times more skilled than 'that diminutive and all-too-modest Sun God of whisky writing' (whoops!) and, goes without saying, than us, wrote in the accompanying brochure that 'George Urquhart was the father, the originator of the current success and appreciation of Scotch Malt Whiskies.' At WF and by rule, we always believe and trust Charlie. Colour: luminous gold (yep). Nose: G&M have had many deep-sherried Glen Grants, most extremely dark and thick, so this is an exception as what we're rather getting is pine resin, embrocations, thyme essence, sauna oils, thuja wood, balsa, lemongrass, wormwood… With water: pinewood smoke, beach bonfire, Barbour grease, castor oil, ski wax… And old Meursault. Right, perhaps not 63 years old Meursault… unless, wait, wouldn't that be a 1959 then? Vintage of the Century as everyone knows, but let's move on… Mouth (neat): exceptionally mentholated, piney, thymey indeed, oily, with some old varnishes, linoleum, concentrated lemon juice, melissa extracts… With water: glorious. Not a matter of respect and deference at all, it's just utterly brilliant whisky indeed. Superb waxiness, which is very 'older Glen Grant' indeed. Finish: long, coating, oily, piney, perfect. Comments: you have to remember that G&M have always been filling their own casks. I remember we had visited the bodega in Jerez that used to supply them. The name escapes me but I remember G&M were the only bottlers who were still requesting 'the bunghole on the side' and not the much industrialised 'bung on the top' that fits palletised warehouses but wrecks oak-and-air contact ratios just for the sake of profitability. Great old whisky (and indeed it's still older than yours truly).
SGP:571 - 93 points.

Check the index of all Glen Grant we've tasted so far