Generally, I think Glenturret is a fine distillery. Not that I gobble up anything that becomes available, but the general level of quality is ‘pretty deece’. Of course, there’s quite some rather legendary stuff from the late seventies, but when I visited the distillery with JPH in 2019, we were both quite enthusiastic about what we got to try, and the whisky we bottled ourselves.

Last year, this bottling from Alistair Walker Whisky Company, from the Infrequent Flyers series came out. Although Glenturret releases peated whisky nowadays, it’s still an oddity compared to what the average Glenturret is. Add to that the Marsala cask this one matured in, and we’ve got ourselves way off the beaten path.

Let’s find out where that leads us!

Sniff:
Lots of walnuts, with a fairly generic scent of fortified wine. Quite sweet, with some funkiness of overripe sweet citrus and mango. Rather rich, with sweet smoke behind it all. Definitely marsala.

Sip:
The palate isn’t too sharp, with a rich sweetness. Marsala with lots of nuttiness, walnuts and a touch of vinegar. Pickled walnuts, hazelnuts, brazil nuts. Overripe mango, sweet orange, papaya. Some oak and quite some smokiness.

Swallow:
I didn’t expect this to be possible, but it gets even richer. Somehow with notes of chocolate and brie. Nuts, oak, smoke, but far less fruity.

This is a very strange whisky indeed. In a way, there’s quite some things to like, the richness, the nuttiness, the quirkiness, the moderate level of peat. However, I don’t feel like it all goes well together.

It’s one of those whiskies that if you ‘just’ drink them when watching tv or reading a book, it’s fine. But it doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny. If you pay attention it’s just a little too weird.

83/100

Still available at Dramtime for € 84.95