It’s December, that time of the year with holidays in the western world, and the annual blind tasting competition of the Dutch Usquebaugh Society club. Last year I participated for the 1st time and managed to finish at the very respectable 21st place and I hope to retain that place or improve upon it a bit but I’m afraid it will be harder this year 🙂
Today’s the first dram of the competition, so we know zlich about it. We can’t even eliminate a whisky zone like in the other days, supposedly making it the hardest guess. But as you can see from the notes below, I immediately thought of Glen Garioch with that ginger spicy note and so I trusted my gut feeling and guessed Glen Garioch. But which bottling? Can they dare and go for the club bottling that most of the participators have and tried? what age? what ABV? There’s some oh so slight peatiness so if it’s Glen Garioch, it has to predate 1996, making it at least 20 year old. It felt quite matured but the spiciness can mislead so I went for 22 year old (maybe I should have go for 25?). ABV? It’s strong, and I can’t point at a specific bottling so I guessed 55%. Will I get some points?
Update: Bah! It’s Glenfarclas 25 Year old at 43%. I wasn’t far from the true age and totally failed with the ABV. Also, Glenfarclas 25? I did have it in the past and even reviewed it as part of Glenfarcas vertical tasting here but this one has barely any sherry influence – maybe composition changed a bit since I bought it 2 years ago? At least I did get some points and that’s a successful day in my book!
Glenfarclas 25 Year Old (43%, £108/€99.95 (NL only)/€119.99)
Nose: Starts spicy with lots of ginger and honey. hints of peat and smoke. It’s a bit chewy and resinous and I feel dryness below the surface with dry, dark yet sweet honey and limestone/minerals. Slowly it gets fruity with red apples, pears, mild apricots and peaches and after a lot of time in the glass, red berries and a bit of chocolate. Further on: candied oranges. Continue reading
Nose: It’s not an aggressive nose with subtle earthy dry peat followed closely by sweet dry wine. in terms of smoke, it’s on the low side of the scale but it’s of the burnt down coals variant. Nice nose balancing nicely peat and sweet. 
Nose: Sharp and stingy at first. There’s some youth showing through with young malt and some new make notes. Not much chocolate and more of fruit sweetness, cinnamon and a bit of sulphur. 
Nose: Light smoke and sweet peat but the wine shine through with sweet fruit notes at first and then it incorporates some sour red berries, earthy red wine notes. Not many wine tannins here probably because of the short finish period. With additional time and air exposure, it’s getting sherry-like spiciness with nutmeg and cinnamon. With water: smoke is gone, but it’s sweeter with added spiciness. 
Nose: Bread dough, cereals, sourdough, grapefruits, honey, white pepper, gentle wet wood note. After 2-3 minutes it’s sweeter with added honey and then some traces of vanilla, gentle flowery and spearmint notes, not perfumed but hints at it and still lots of grapefruits 
Nose: Oh it’s indeed very sweet. whiff of vanilla and honey at first with some lemon. There’s sweet peat smoke with hints of medical notes. Slowly the first wave recedes a bit and we’re exposed to some fruity notes. Peaches, citrus (oranges and lime), pineapples, mango, quite tropical. Sweet smoke with a briny edge, a very rich nose. 
Nose: Lovely sherry impact. No youth notes as I felt with the old 12 yo, big dried fruit and soaked raisins. demerara sugar. I do get some whiffs of vanilla, orange chocolate, toffee and eventually a rich nutmeg note. 
Nose: Sweet and rich sherry impact: dried berries, stewed fruit and prunes and it’s bordering fruit compote. The peat is very subdued with delicate tingling smoke in the background. After a few minutes in the glass, the sherry impact is getting lighter while the smokiness stays at a steady level and we get to sniff some grilled red apples and even some spicy menthol. further on it gets some perfume edge and citrus. 
Nose: Smoky, salty and fruity. One time cereals and then abundant of cured meat and fruit sweetness. There’s a great balance between the peat smoke and the sherry cask influence. The peat note is well rounded and is kept in check even over time when many young peated drams nose get overtaken by peat smoke. Getting fruitier over time: green melon and dried pears. 
Whisky Gospel 