Generally, by the time I read things like ‘ex-Islay Hogshead’, a brand has lost me. I fail to see the reason to finish whisky in casks from another distillery. Luckily, I tried this when I only knew the ABV and the distillery, and not much else. I guess there’s a benefit to trying things blind after all.

With Glen Garioch being part of Suntory, as well as Bowmore, I’d expect this to be an ex-Bowmore cask, but with it being Beam Suntory for a couple of years now, it could also be Laphroaig. Then again, I doubt it matters a lot, although there are different levels op peating between the two distilleries. If memory serves, Bowmore goes up to 25ppm in the malted barley, and Laphroaig doubles that to 50ppm.

Anyway, Glen Garioch. A distillery with very mixed results. Epic bottlings from long ago, then very perfumy stuff from the 1980s, like Bowmore and Auchentoshan, and in the mid-nineties they stopped floor malting and they stopped using peat. I guess that makes it hard to spead about a distillery character or style, if things have changed this massively over the last four decades.

This one, being distilled in 2013, is obviously from a more consistent period in which less things changed. Dràm Mòr bottled the ex-Islay cask earlier this year and kindly sent a sample over for reviewing.

Sniff:
Orange, tea, a bit of vanilla. A slightly funky note too. Parma violets and a bit of milky sherbet. A minor whiff of smoke in the background.

Sip:
The palate brings those same notes, but the alcohol adds some bite. Sherbet, parma violets, vanilla. Some oak and a bity heat.

Swallow:
The finish is a bit less rich and less syrupy. Still has the same flavors. The lack of thickness in texture makes the flavors a bit more pronounced.

Quite interesting and idiosyncratic, which is something I would want from a Glen Garioch. I didn’t know what to expect, obviously, and I came a way very positively surprised. Currently, this bottling is only available in Scotland, but if it pops up in The Netherlands, I just might get myself one. I really like these off-the-beaten-path whiskies.

87/100