When we held the whisky tasting at Emakina (my work) we had loads of fun. But, since I was hosting the tasting with a buddy, I didn’t take any notes since I didn’t want to come off too geeky (who am I kidding, right).

What I did do to compensate for that was take some samples of the remaining bottles and try them at home over the weekend.

This Glen Garioch was the oldest of the bunch and we picked it since I generally like Glen Garioch, it was rather old, it was affordable and not that high in alcohol, although it was cask strength.

Glen Garioch 23, from the Emakina tasting

Sniff:
The scent reminded me of old fashioned highlands whisky. More in the style of the 1970s than the 1990s. It’s very lightly peated with a lot of maltiness. Also lemon, lemoncurd and hay.

Sip:
The palate is lightly spicy but a little thin. It becomes a bit more dry and again has that lemony flavour. The hay is back too, but with a touch of oak and grass.

Swallow:
The finish has more oak and malt than the palate. It loses its freshness now. Not too long.

While this whisky is an exercise in nuance it does lack a bit of ‘rememberability’. As in, it’s a nice whisky with some good crispiness. On the other hand, it’s a bit simply and slightly uninteresting. A bummer, since I had high hopes for this. So, in short: A very nice drinking whisky, but not a highlight.

Glen Garioch 23, 1990-2013, 49.9%, Signatory Vintage. Available at DrankGigant at € 91.75. Samples from Master of Malt.