
June 10, 2025

The Return of the Glentauchers (Part 5)

We’ll stop after these last few, promise – cross my heart and hope to die…

Glentauchers 10 yo 2011/2022 (62.6%, The Single Malts of Scotland, Kirsch Import exclusive, sherry butt, cask #900247, 492 bottles)

Colour: pale gold. Nose: we’re not in deep sherry territory here, rather we’re getting vanilla cream, white chocolate and proper Czech pilsner. But at this strength, one ought to proceed with caution… With water: barley syrup, soft honeys, stewed apples, it’s remarkable how water utterly takes control, though entirely to the whisky’s benefit. Mouth (neat): very fruity but also distinctly youthful, with very dominant pears at this stage, and even some Black Forest kirsch. Quite a bit of lemon too – although not from the Black Forest. With water: now beautifully balanced, fruity, orchard-driven, and pleasantly uncomplicated. Finish: long, gentle, with candied sugar and those pears still hanging about. Comments: the strength is daunting at first, but water tames it in no time. In the end, it’s a gentle, docile wee baby.
SGP:641 - 85 points.

Glentauchers 15 yo 2008/2023 (59.6%, DH Global Wine, Connoisseurs Dram, 1st fill amontillado, cask #900337, 339 bottles)

Amontillado, that does speak to us, doesn’t it. Colour: deep gold. Nose: quince jelly drizzled with maple syrup and honey, with the drier amontillado tones playing in the background – cigar boxes and pinecones. With water: old furniture newly varnished, and a touch of thuja… Mouth (neat): oh splendid, wildly expressive, medicinal, saline, with mustard and horseradish layered atop bitter oranges and a spice medley that feels most ‘Sichuan’, if you ask me. Though be warned, it’s a bit bonkers. With water: I believe Glentauchers serves as a perfect base for this kind of rather mad maturation. Amontillado squared. Finish: same ballpark. Salt, mosses, tobacco, pepper, leather, mustard, walnuts and the rest. Comments: I loathe to say this, but I do think this isn’t for everyone, and that it requires a rather sharp palate to fully enjoy this sort of beastie. I’m deeply – and humbly - sorry.
SGP:462 - 90 points.

Glentauchers 13 yo (54.8%, Morisco Spirits, Marble Collection, oloroso sherry, 2022)

Let me quote them, ‘The label is a detail of the pavement present in the church of Santa Prassede, Rome.’ In a world increasingly steered by uncultured halfwits, one can only applaud, wouldn’t you agree? Colour: gold. Nose: here we have a classic GT profile, with very ripe apple, banana and melon, alongside the subtlest touches of raspberry jam. So be it! With water: oh, a bit of old-school polish, even some seaweed and mint – we could almost believe ourselves on the northern coast way north of Inverness. Mouth (neat): fresh, fruity, with notes of fruity, lemony beer, and truth be told, the oloroso is very discreet at this stage. No problem at all. With water: now showing very nicely, more complex, with fruits in all manner of forms, juices, compotes, jams… Finish: same story. Fruit stewed with honey and sweet wine. Oranges lingering on the aftertaste. Comments: a very, very well-mannered oloroso.
SGP:551 - 87 points.

More art, please…

Glentauchers 13 yo 2009/2022 (53.8%, Whiskyjace, Art Edition #5, bourbon barrel)

We can’t help but be deeply fond of the 1950s/60s jazz vibe of the label. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: pure fruit, resting on chalk and grist. Apples, pears, small berries, yellow melons, gentle beer. With water: we edge closer to the earth, to the barley itself… Mouth (neat): utterly barley-forward with yellow fruits, and just two drops of Chartreuse. With water: faint touches of pencil shavings, perhaps even pencil lead. Now that’s amusing. Finish: medium length, leaning towards apple and soft, fruity beer. Comments: right where we expected it to land.
SGP:551 - 86 points.

Glentauchers 10 yo 2013/2023 (58.6%, The Whisky Exchange, The Seasons: Spring, barrel, cask #800435)

Well done, London, apples in springtime, that’s truly a city-dweller’s notion. At least if we go by the label, but of course we adore London and the Londoners, as all Frenchmen do. Colour: pale white wine. Sylvaner (ha). Nose: simple, pinpoint-precise, on chalk and apples, with a few hints of pistachio. You couldn’t be closer to the distillate, it almost feels like the barrel was made of stainless steel. With water: same story. Chalk, sourdough, lemon, cider apple. Mouth (neat): oh, taut and perfectly fruity. Rhubarb, green apple, lime. I’m telling you, there’s no arguing with this. With water: little pears descend en masse, like a flock of gulls on sardines (copyright Eric Cantona). Finish: medium in length but pure, brimming with barley, honey and apples. Comments: malt whisky as Nature intended. For a wee ten-year-old, it’s superb.
SGP:651 - 86 points.

Glentauchers 1996/2018 (52.3%, Or Sileis, Legends, The Arthurian Tales, bourbon, cask #618, 199 bottles)

Colour: pale gold. Nose: oh, here’s a delightful soft mustard with yellow melon and sweet woodruff. It’s unusual and utterly charming. With water: faint touches of natural rubber, jasmine, perfumed sticky rice – all things we absolutely adore. Mouth (neat): sheer beauty, tangerines and citrus peels (also a whisper of soap – absolutely no issue at this stage). With water: a hint of salinity, waxes, paraffin, lotus blossom… Finish: not particularly long but beautifully fermentary. Floral wine and tiny berries. Comments: I’d genuinely love to know whether our Taiwanese friends selected this cask for its ‘Far Eastern’ inflections. What I’m saying may well be total nonsense, but I stand by it. A superb Glentauchers, in any case.
SGP:551 - 88 points.

Glentauchers 20 yo 1996/2016 (49.1%, Single Cask Collection, bourbon barrel, cask #3620, 173 bottles)

We are admittedly very late to this one, but here we are in Austria! Colour: straw. Nose: here we find the gentle, balanced character of bourbon cask maturation on a malt whisky with, shall we say, a moderately expressive personality. Apple, vanilla, the faintest touches of glue, melon, banana… With water: hints of sourdough, muesli… Mouth (neat): not much to add, fruity beers, almost young calvados, a very slight touch of cedarwood and rosewater… With water: it’s soft, simple, honeyed and malty. Finish: medium in length, on fruity beer and mead. Comments: not quite Mozart, but it’s very good.
SGP:551 - 84 points.

Right then, it’s probably high time we enjoyed one last Glentauchers, for this year at least, and perhaps even beyond. It’s a fine malt, one that the best indie bottlers can really get the most out of, but can we truly say it has a bold, distinctive character? Then again, tasting forty of them more or less back-to-back probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. In any case, it’s probably all my fault. Come on then, let’s pick an old bottle to finish with…

Glentauchers 21 yo 1975/1997 (55.69%, Signatory Vintage, cask #8888, 306 bottles)

Naturally, this was ‘matured in an oak cask’ and so forth. In other words, the good old days, when everyone cared more about distillates than about those blasted casks we’ve been hearing about ad nauseam for the past fifteen years or more. That said, you’ll have noted the splendid cask number, #8888. Colour: pale gold. Nose: much more austere than expected, leaning on grape must, banana skin and apple peelings, with a hint of dark ale and two squares of chocolate. Aromatically speaking, it’s on the restrained side at this stage. With water: same again. I fear we may have missed our window, at least as far as these Glentauchers are concerned. Mouth (neat): rather improbable, patchouli, rosewater, cigarettes, rosehip tisane… With water: no, it’s quite alright, with some nice figs for instance, but it’s frankly lacking in character. There’s even a faint dustiness. Finish: something of a downward spiral, the strength drops away, and it becomes a touch cardboardy. Slightly stale apple juice. Comments: this one might have become a bit passé, there’s not a great deal of joy left to be had here, though of course it’s still a proper old malt whisky.
SGP:441 - 75 points.

Right then, no regrets, we’ll move on to something else as of tomorrow. Don’t worry, that’s it for the Glentauchers, for quite some time. After all, we’ve had 43 of them in just a few days, I think that’s more than enough.

Ah indeed, the little podium, as foolishly promised:

WF91

Glentauchers 33 yo 1993/2024 (51.9%, OB for The Whisky Exchange, Lost in Time, refill American oak barrels, cask #5218, 108 bottles)

WF90

Glentauchers 15 yo 2008/2023 (59.6%, DH Global Wine, Connoisseurs Dram, 1st fill amontillado, cask #900337, 339 bottles)

WF89

Glentauchers 19 yo 2002-2005/2024 (57.1%, Decadent Drams, 1st fill bourbon and 1st fill sherry, 138 bottles)

Glentauchers 24 yo 1996/2020 (49.7%, Asta Morris, bourbon, cask #AM139, 186 bottles)

Glentauchers 23 yo 1997/2021 (53.2%, The Single Malts of Scotland, barrel, cask #401, 157 bottles)

Glentauchers 15 yo 2009/2025 (54.6%, Whisky Age, 1st fill bourbon barrel, cask #800647, 233 bottles)

Glentauchers 2008/2024 (51.7%, Liquid Art, 10th Anniversary, sherry oak, 96 bottles)

Check the index of all Glentauchers we've tasted so far