Category Archives: Glengoyne

Glengoyne week – Day 1: Glengoyne 12yo (43%, OB, Bourbon Casks, 2012)

Hurray, we have another ‘week’ at Master Quills! No April fools! As you all know this sort of event is very nice to do. This is already the fourth time we’re doing a ‘week’. We started out with the Bourbon week, that was not all about Bourbon. The second time around we had a go at the tipple of Japan, and I’m not yet talking about Saké. The last one, up ’till now, was Rum. Now we’ll do the first about a Single Malt Whisky, Glengoyne in particular. Glengoyne is famous for not using peat at all. They are so proud of it they even mention such a thing on their labels, or used to. Second, Glengoyne is also one of the distilleries that uses (or used) the Golden Promise Barley variety, one of the best tasting barley’s around. Glengoyne is owned by Ian MacLeod, we all know as the independent bottler of the Chieftains range and Dun Bhaegan.

Last year the core range, the 10yo, 12yo, 15yo, 18yo, 21yo and the cask strength version got a new look. This 12yo is a few points up in ABV from the 10yo and cost only a fraction more.

Color: Gold

Nose: Malty and quite stuffy at first. The stuffiness dissipates very quickly. After that, very clean, which doesn’t exclude the initial stuffiness. This is the way to find out how the Spirit of Glengoyne ages, without being obscured. Fresh seaside air. Sweetish and clean oak. Going by the smell alone I would say mostly refill casks were used. Toffee and a little bit of wood and vanilla. Slightly floral. Undemanding and unobtrusive.

Taste: Sweetish (corn?) and quite simple. Malty, slightly bitter, fruity (pineapple) and sweet. A little bit of toast. It’s quite nice and dangerously drinkable. Slightly warming. All in all quite simple. Short finish, that leaves a trace of sugar in the mouth. Slight imbalance towards the finish (sour beer).

A very easy, simple and inoffensive entry-level malt, without faults, but also nothing special. A good inexpensive choice for a novice, and if you don’t like this, stay away from single malts altogether! Still when compared to the cask strength version, well that is quite another story…

Points: 81

Glengoyne 12yo ‘100 Proof’ (57.2%, OB, American Oak, Circa 2007)

There’s also ‘Cask Strength’ on the label, but wouldn’t that be really convenient that it’s precisely 100 Proof. What luck! And American Oak, what is it, a barrel, a hogshead, an American white oak butt or puncheon even? Just a little bit too much nonsense on the label.

Glengoyne then. Glengoyne got my interest because they were one of the first to specifically state, ‘unpeated malt’ on their labels. Also, I like the looks of the bottle ánd for still using Golden Promise amongst other barley’s of course. Golden Promise is somewhat of the holy grail of grains, because it is supposed to be very flavoursome. But the yield is not so good, compared to the favorites of today (which make all whiskies taste the same, to come out bluntly). So lets see if this one, and remember this is a fairly priced bottle, makes a golden promise.

Color: Very full gold, almost orange.

Nose: Malty and chocolaty, absolutely high-proof. Also quite a musty smell, heavy on yeast. Meaty even. The American Oak statement leads me to believe this is from Bourbon Casks, but the musty smell is very resemblant of Sherry and or First Fill Bourbon. Raisins. Very un-clean for a Glengoyne (which almost sounds like a complement doesn’t it?). Spicy and quite a good balance. This could well be a bang-for-your-buck type of malt.

Taste: Toasted wood, but still a lot of yeast. Can’t shake the Sherry here. High proof, so it makes an impression. Although this has bold flavours, the quality of the spirit shines through. Very Ahorn syrupy sweet, and corn sweetness, that’s totally different from the Ahorn. It almost tastes like a wheater! This could be a Weller, with some sherry musty and creamy yeastyness. It’s a picture with thick broad strokes. It is thick.

I know that Glengoyne is the perfect spirit to mature in refill casks. This is the way they make their casks “refill” for the next batch. But isn’t this first fill Glengoyne great? Simple, and with a style of its own. Very un-typical for Glengoyne, but still very nice. Maybe a bit too sweet? This I would drink playing cards. Lovely.

Points: 86