Origin: Highlands (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 43%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex sherry oloroso
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Ian Macleod Distillers
Average price: € 90.00
Official website: www.glengoyne.com
Vote: 82/100
We introduce another distillery to the blog with a geographically peculiar one, situated exactly on the border between Lowlands and Highlands, with distillation taking place in the latter and maturation carried out in the former: the best of both worlds, one might say.
Founded in 1833 in Dumgoyne under the name of Burnfoot by George Connell, coming to its modern name at the turn of the next century after briefly being called Glen Guin due to a misspelling on the register.
During the period of Edrington’s ownership it received the Royal Warrant as a supplier to the Royal House of England, a seal that was inherited by the current ownership in 2003, with four stills in all for the (slow) production of a distillate that has always been unpeated.
Four age-declared bottlings (10, 12, 15 and 18 years) and three NAS in the basic portfolio, plus several limited editions for a distillery that has never stopped producing and is firmly rooted in the production tradition of the Highlands.
And let’s discover it starting with this expression, introduced in 2012 with a decidedly affordable price considering its ageing.
Tasting notes
The nose is as fruity as expected, with the whole parterre of sherry unfolding on notes of red fruits, dried figs, ripe banana, dried apricot and tangerine, along with nuts (almonds, macadamia), spices (nutmeg) and a fresh, vegetal component of tea leaves and tobacco, which slightly dampens the effluvium of dark sweetness. In the background, a rough, leather and wood component also emerges, which is balanced by veins of brown sugar. Intense.
The premise of the nose is partly unfulfilled on the palate, where the vegetal part raises the tone with even balsamic velleities on an oily carpet of less bright fruit tending towards citrus along with some saline accents. The rest of the sensations, including the spicy and rough ones, also appear decidedly subdued, with a surge of nuts and black pepper along the length over a hint of coffee beans and chocolate.
The medium-long finish is dominated by vegetal and balsamic tones with a certain dryness, accompanied by a saline vein on slight fruity and woody traits.
Nothing bad can be said about this whisky, but it leaves me a little perplexed by the lack of incisiveness on the palate, which shows a certain imbalance by losing much of the accents perceived instead on the nose. An absence of backbone and fullness that makes it a pleasant dram but nothing more.