Top-notch only: a selection of independent Glen Moray from five countries


April 16, 2025

Top-notch only: a selection of independent Glen Moray from five countries

Each time we enjoy Glen Moray (or Ardbeg for that matter), we spare a thought for Stuart Thomson.

Glen Moray 11 yo 2013/2024 (51.4%, Dramcatcher, for Whisky & Music Festival Zürich 2024, 1st fill oloroso, cask #2312209, 95 bottles)

For a delightful little festival in Zürich that brings together whisky and music, organised by our friend Andreas. Warmly recommended, and you might even take the opportunity to pay a visit to your bankers. Colour: full gold. Nose: incredible, quite a bit of chocolate – Swiss, naturally – then notes of suntan lotion and a good deal of barley, both fresh and malted. With water: patchouli and roasted hazelnuts, then bruised apples and a splash of walnut wine. Expected, perhaps, but very nicely done. Mouth (neat): very pretty fruity sherry, with plenty of walnuts, mandarin orange, caramel, tobacco... With water: stewed fruits in abundance, including plums and apples, sprinkled with fragments of roasted hazelnut. Finish: rather long, lovely, very slightly saline. Comments: fine work with this very young Glen Moray. The next Whisky & Music Festival Zürich will take place on the 28th and 29th of November this year. Hoppla!
SGP:551 - 87 points.

Glen Moray 14 yo 2010/2024 (56%, Navigate World Whisky, Partners series, ex-bourbon, cask #800541, 182 bottles)

One moves without blinking from Switzerland to South Africa. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: this is very different indeed, with notes of rubber, aubergine, artichoke, even a touch of Brussels sprout. Unusual, certainly, but nothing over the top, and in fact it works. A bit of kale and lemon too. Tremendous fun. With water: almond milk, imagine that. Mouth (neat): powerful, very lemony, big on cider apple, gooseberry, grass juice, verjuice… With water: stewed apple with a drizzle of honey and a squeeze of lemon juice. Even the vanilla keeps a respectable distance. Finish: long, fresh, softer, but the verjuice character still lingers. Comments: in truth, this is quite the gastronomic Glen Moray. Let’s say… perhaps with poultry?
SGP:461 - 87 points.

From Switzerland to South Africa to Taiwan… Who’d have imagined Glen Moray would take us so far afield?

Glen Moray 15 yo 2008/2024 (52%, Whisky Age, 1st fill palo cortado hogshead, cask #5651, 309 bottles)

Palo cortado, that’s just splendid) Colour: gold. Nose: green walnuts, seaweed, sweet mustard, polenta, then white grapes, furniture polish and cherry stalk infusion. What’s so lovely with malts that don’t shout too loudly is that you’re able to uncover all these subtle little nuances that something like an Ardbeg or a young Springbank would probably bulldoze right over. With water: oh, salted butter with seaweed and roasted almonds… oh… Mouth (neat): I adore this. The palo cortado was spot on. Exceptional salinity, mustard again, more walnuts, tobacco, chen-pi (hi Gene), teas, sharp apples… It’s splendid. With water: superb bitter-acid development, beautifully poised. We may be in Taiwan (and Elgin), but we’re also deep in the heart of Jerez. Finish: alas. Comments: I admit it, this beastie rather took us by surprise.
SGP:462 - 90 points.

Next stop: Hong Kong…

Glen Moray 17 yo 2007/2024 (51.4%, Club Qing, Bottled Realities, ex-Laphroaig barrel, cask #6311, 255 bottles)

In theory, Glen Moray and Laphroaig are like chalk and cheese. Had it been Ardbeg, at least there might have been some kind of managerial continuity, in a way. Colour: white wine. Nose: nursery school glue, brass and silver polish, clams and whelks, the latest issue of the New Yorker, a fireplace just gone out, and hefty whiffs of fresh plastic. I must say this is fairly disconcerting, though one suspects there’s some sort of trick here, let’s see. With water: no, still very much all sorts of polishes. Drawing gum, linseed oil… Mouth (neat): who remembers ‘Serendipity’? Well, this is much better, but still obscure, disconcerting, bizarre… Preserved lemon juice in a copper pot, or something along those lines. With water: it edges a bit towards a caipirinha. Probably the most convoluted way to make a caipirinha. Finish: same story at first, but the Speysider strikes back with some cider apple and barley syrup. Salt on the aftertaste. Comments: bizarre and, in fact, bizarrely excellent. But was it deliberate or sheer happenstance?
SGP:463 - 88 points.

Let’s wrap up our wee adventure in Italy, if you’re happy with that.

Glen Moray 18 yo 2006/2024 (54.8%, Wilson & Morgan, oloroso sherry finish, cask #720007, 540 bottles)

We do appreciate that W&M have never changed their labels, it’s a mark of trust towards the consumer and proof of a top-tier value system (yes, really)) Colour: amber. Nose: another lovely example of an ex-sherry malt that leans bourbon at first, with fresh varnish, popcorn, custard, and marrons glacés, then increasingly mocha-infused chocolate. Hazelnut liqueur and nocino aren’t far behind… Bravissimo. With water: a few puffs of dried seaweed on the beach, and notes of church candle wax. After all, we are in Italy. Mouth (neat): old-school, perfect. Powerful, bold, slightly acetic, also showing fine notes of controlled burn, coffee, walnuts, a drop of Jerez vinegar (naturally), and black pepper… With water: it relaxes a little, but those walnuts, mustard, bitter chocolate, nocino, and even, cue the trumpets, a touch of amaro remain. Finish: long, drier still, more chocolaty, and with a hint of green pepper. Comments: probably the most Italian Glen Moray I’ve tasted in recent years. And yet it was sherry, not marsala.
SGP:462 - 89 points.

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