| |
Home
Thousands of tastings,
all the music,
all the rambligs
and all the fun
(hopefully!)
Whiskyfun.com
Guaranteed ad-free
copyright 2002-2024
|
 |
|
| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
| |
|
| |
| |
January 15, 2024 |
|
  |
Focus on new Glenglassaugh |
Last year at Whisky Live Paris, we co-hosted, with our friend Dave Broom, a 'masterclass' of the Best of Show type and Dave had notably chosen a new official Glenglassaugh which had greatly impressed me due to its sublime freshness, I have just forgotten which it was. To be honest, I was also a bit jealous of Dave for not having discovered this little gem myself. In any case, it's more than time to update Whiskyfun! |
Old bottles at Massandra, Crimea
(massandrawine.org) |
|
Glenglassaugh 12 yo (45%, OB, 2023) 
The last official 12-year-old I tasted, which dated from the 1990s with a cream label, had been quite uninspiring for me (WF 78), which is why Dave's choice at WL Paris had initially surprised me. Colour: dark gold. Nose: it starts very much with chalk, wet limestone, even modelling clay, but also bursts of sea air at low tide, followed by somewhat winey notes that I hadn't noticed as much at Whisky Live. But context is hugely important, as you and I know. There's sherry and fruits cooked in wine, which is very pleasant but less 'fresh' than expected. Also touches of flint and mustard sauce. All in all, a very pretty nose, but less close to the distillate than in my memory. Maybe it's a different batch? Mouth: yes, it's a bit heavy, spicy, still marked by the cooked fruits and spices, ginger, cloves, grilled pecan nuts, tobacco, orange marmalade, dried grapes... Finish: long, rich, spicy, fruity and indeed winey. Quite a lot of dried grapes and pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: I think I must have been mistaken, I remembered Dave's Glenglassaugh as being much more refined, less, let's say, clunky. I shall check with him, I may have tasted the wrong expression. Well I'm sure I have.
SGP:551 - 80 points. |
|
Glenglassaugh 'Portsoy' (49.1%, OB, 2023)
A peated NAS from the mainland, we've seen that elsewhere, haven't we? And aged in wine casks, including Port. I'm afraid that this might again distance us from the distillate, but one never knows... There had been a peated 'Torfa' a few years ago which had been quite correct (WF 80). Colour: dark gold. Nose: it's quite nice, very much on ashes, cigars, cedar wood, candied ginger, quinaquina, and then strawberry jam but in small quantity, rest assured. Also plasticine and seaweed, a bit in the style of some official Ledaig releases. Not the independents'! A tiny bit of soap and mustard come through a little later. Mouth: nice tension, even if once more, we are not exactly being delicate. More peat, salt, pepper, ginger, and horseradish, all enveloped in a casing of spiced fruit jam, not unlike mulled wine at Christmas. Finish: long, spicy, with leather, autumn leaves, wood and, of course, rather oily peat. Comments: this was not the Glenglassaugh that Dave had chosen either! I rather like it, it's just slightly clumsy, in my humble opinion.
SGP:565 - 81 points. |
|
Glenglassaugh 'Sandend' (50.5%, OB, 2023) 
There's manzanilla in there, which bodes well for this humble NAS. Colour: straw. Nose: ah, maybe it's this one. Much fresher, tenser, more elegant, with notes of slate, humus after rain, hints of green bananas and apples, a slight sweetness from the bourbon, toffee apples, a few marshmallows, acacia honey, a bit of jasmine… Everything is fine here! With water: dough, fresh croissants, fougasse, slightly warm mirabelle plum tart… All very nice. Mouth (neat): yes, excellent, almost like being at Balblair, if you get what I mean, even if this Glenglassaugh is much more peppery, beyond the apples, bananas, guavas, pears and papayas that coat your palate. With water: fruit salad, melon, plums, less pepper now, a little maritime touch à la Laddie, white nougat and all-flower honey… All is well. Finish: medium length, fruity and slightly yeasty, which we like. Comments: for us, this is the most successful of them three, the one that gives the distillate the most voice. As for the manzanilla, maybe it's what adds that coastal and salty side?
SGP:651 - 85 points. |
Let's have an independent one, please… |
|
Glenglassaugh 7 yo 2015/2023 (57.9%, Dram Mor, 1st fill bourbon, cask #66)
It's always fun to have to rely on the independents to get a purer version of the distillates, isn't it? In any case, a version without the impact of wine, fortified or 'table', red or white. Colour: straw. Nose: quiet, elegant, with oils and waxes, then barley, flowers and herbs. Sunflower, beeswax, Golden Grahams, a small chalkiness, ripe apples and dandelions. With water: sameish, lovely. Mouth (neat): God's own take on malt whisky. Honeys and mead, vanilla, chardonnay, mirabelles, citrons, tarte tatin and popcorn. All 'yellow' flavours indeed. With water: oranges and tangerines chiming in, orange blossom water and some awesome kind-of-floral bitterness. Touch of ginger tonic. Finish: rather long, pure, perfectly fruity, rather oily all along. Tiny touch of chilli. Comments: marvellous young tipple. 7, the age of reason.
SGP:651 - 87 points. |
Let's still make the last one an official release… |
|
Glenglassaugh 35 yo 1978/2014 (41.7%, OB, Massandra Connection, Madeira finish, 1,320 bottles) 
Well, we're not going to get clever, but if it's a Massandra wine, the former estate of the Tsars in Crimea, it can't be Madeira, except that indeed, at Massandra they used to bestow their wines with names of Western vineyards each time they produced a wine in that style. We still have a lot of old fortified wines from Massandra in the Whiskyfun cellar, by the way, they were sold off in large quantities by Sotheby's in 1990 and 1991. But no 'Madeira'... Towards the end of the USSR, the wines from Massandra had become very ordinary, and then I just lost track of them. Colour: amber. Nose: well, as we know, it's not mandatory to use great wines to make great whiskies, we've seen it with countless grand crus of Bordeaux. A grand cru does not make your whisky a grand cru. In any case, it's a magnificent nose, with all sorts of nuts, ointments and oils, superior to a 33-year-old 1978 ex-Massandra which was still very good (WF 85). Beautiful hints of the exhaust from an old English V12 (that's it, that's it...) Mouth: the blend has worked perfectly. There's a bit of mustard and perfect sultanas (was it malmsey-style?) then damp earth, mushrooms, humus, old walnut wine, salty touches, and especially, a magnificent sweet-salty side. Dates stuffed with salted marzipan. Finish: not very long but very balanced. Always this very nice earthy side, then liqueur, probably the 'Madeira' that has taken over. We're not complaining. Comments: for a simple finishing, one can (could!) only applaud. But what has become of the Domaine de Massandra? Any news?
SGP:651 - 90 points. |
(Gracias, Lukas & Philip) |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
