Today we have a review of the last of the four samples that spearheaded “The Wood Makes the Whisky” Campaign from Gordon & MacPhail. It’s a Glen Grant that was distilled way back in 1954 and was bottled in 2006 for a whopping 52 years in the cask.

While G&M did release recently a 65 year old Glen Grant (for Wealth Solutions), even this ‘young’ whisky can teach us a lot on cask selection. Think about it: 52 years in the cask. You can’t pick up just any cask if you want the whisky to age well for such long time period without going over-wood and G&M has repeatedly show they can do over and over and over again. This time, refill sherry casks were used and I guess those casks weren’t  too active.

Glen Grant 1954 (40%, bottled 2006, £1,049/£1,167.66)

Nose: Glorious old sherry, sour and sweet,  where to start? Lots of berries here, strawberries and raspberries, dates, figs, sultanas, cherries chocolate and plain milk chocolate, cooked nutmeg and a dash of bitter herbals and oak spices. Very rich and very fresh despite the old age.

Palate: Starts with a mix of sour and deep dark berries, nutmeg with herbal bitterness, cloves, all spice, chili peppers, underlying fruitiness. With water: burnt wood, and more bitter nutmeg.

Finish: Medium length, dry old sherry, dried fruit, chocolate, nutmeg and a bit vinegary.

Thoughts: Well, there are no big surprises here. It’s an excellent whisky with big and rich sherried profile and just the right amount of oakiness. However, I don’t think it’s an exceptional whisky which I mean : it’s good for what it is and it delivers what’s expected of it but it’s missing that edge that transforms it to an exceptional and sensational whisky. Still, it’s a pretty good aged whisky, another one in the long chain of such whiskies from G&M.