Origin: Highlands (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 47.2%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Bourbon barrel
Chillfiltered: No
Additional coloring: No
Owner: Suntory
Average price: € 3,500.00
Official website: www.glengarioch.com
“Extraordinary” is a somewhat overused adjective when it comes to whisky. But never has it been more fitting, in its literal sense, to indicate something that deviates, and not by a little, from the norm.
I am about to taste the first and so far only offering from the bottler Morrison Distillers, under the Càrn Mòr label, in the Family Reserve series, a Glen Garioch distilled on October 28, 1988, and matured in a single ex-bourbon barrel (number 8004100), before being bottled on August 28, 2021, at 42.3%abv, in its natural color and without chill filtration, with only 108 bottles remaining available.
The exceptional nature of the proposal is primarily linked to the fact that in 1988 the Morrison family owned Glen Garioch, and the malting and peat drying were done in loco, following a style that is profoundly different from today. It truly represents a unique experience that can offer a piece of Scotch history.
Tasting Notes
The color is amber.
Bringing the glass to the nose, one immediately perceives the depth and sensory balance of an olfactory score where the sweetness of caramel, zabaglione, and ripe apricot blends with the zest of orange, while the nuts seems to take the hand of a most pleasant wood note inherited from the long years spent in barrel. With a specific balsamic depth (pine resin) meeting an impression of damp earth and a floral dimension (geranium and oleander) that further enriches an already shifting perceptual spectrum. The ensemble is enveloped by a note of smoke: like tendrils that are at times closer, at times further away, bestowing an austere elegance reminiscent of another era.
On the palate, it is spicy, with wood in the forefront and a hint of astringency. Sweet notes prevail, albeit with restraint, accompanied by a creamy dimension of Malaga and cream that enhances the overall sensation of softness, graced by consistent hints of orange zest and salted almond in the retro-nasal perception, along with a memory of smoke that, while distinctly defined here, seems more distant, like a memory just blurred by time.
The long persistence delivers a finish still leaning towards a creamy sweetness that is not exuberant, with spicy echoes and vaguely smoky volatility that imprint themselves in memory.
Review: A legendary whisky whose words barely convey the intensity and meaning. A memorable experience that tells how this distillate, at its highest levels, can still communicate to the curious drinker the wonder that arises from enchantment and revelation.
Vote: 93/100