Whisky Review: The Classic Cask Glen Ord 14 Year 1998/2012 for Park Avenue Liquor

Park Avenue Liquor in New York is one of the few liquor stores in the US with a long history of bringing in exclusive single cask bottlings. While they don't seem to do as many these days, there are still a few around.

This whisky was distilled in 1998, filled into a (presumably) ex-bourbon hogshead, then bottled at 43% in 2012.

Thanks to Dave McEldowney of PDXWhisky for letting me try this one.

The Classic Cask Glen Ord 14 Year 1998/2012 for Park Avenue Liquor

Nose: moderate oak, toffee, orange peel, apple cider, light wood spices (cardamom), vanilla, and raisins - almost sherried, a touch of herbal/grassy/floral/peat character. After adding a few drops of water the sweetness is amplified with more raisin character, the grassiness expands and integrates, a hint of cured meat comes out, and the spices resolve into cinnamon.

Taste: moderately sweet up front, toffee, oak, apple, pear, peach, and raisin in the middle, grassy notes, vanilla, and fresh malt with a touch of cardamom/cumin near the back. After dilution the sweetness grows and expands across the palate, taking on more of the raisin notes, with the grass and spice notes are more muted.

Finish: grassy, fresh malt, raisin/berry notes, light oak

In contrast to the James MacArthur bottling I reviewed earlier this week, this has far more obvious cask influence, despite only being a couple years older. While there is a clear familial similarity between the two, this is an approachable rather than a challenging whisky, with lots of comforting character. That's not to call it boring, just easy drinking. In terms of finding the most nuance, I'm a bit disappointed that this was bottled at 43%, but if I had a whole bottle to drink I don't think that would bother me. This is a plain nice whisky, but unfortunately also long gone.

Whisky Review: James MacArthur Glen Ord 12 Year 1998-2011

Not a lot to say about Glen Ord. Let's get to the tasting notes ASAP.

This whisky was distilled in 1998, filled into what I am guessing was a refill hogshead, then bottled at 45% in 2011.

Thanks to Michael Kravitz for the sample. See his review for a different perspective.

James MacArthur Glen Ord 12 Year 1998-2011 Cask #27

Nose: lots of new make character - green malt, green grass, and sour berry notes - apples/pears, plastic, lemon/citrus peel; with time the new make element settle down and integrate, becoming softer and more rounded with a touch of smoked meat, baking spices, and floral notes. After adding a few drops of water, it becomes even more restrained, with everything but the sweet malt and vanilla condensing into a slightly musky note.

Taste: very sweet up front, fades through fizzy herbal/grassy notes, citrus, fresh malt, slightly sour berries, vanilla, and almost imperceptible oak at the back. After dilution the sweetness becomes slightly more restrained with strong grape and berry notes coming out in the middle, and the herbal/grassy notes are pushed to the back where more oak and spice notes come out.

Finish: fresh malt, bittersweet, herbal/grassy

This reads almost perfectly in between my two previous experiences with similarly aged Glen Ords - a 40% Singleton bottling and a 60.1% A.D. Rattray single cask. The Singleton was arguably more flawless, but flatter and less interesting. The Rattray was a big alcoholic beast and took a while to tame, but eventually developed a lot of good character. The MacArther's initial new make character was rather off-putting, but once that burned off it transformed into a competent but not exactly gripping single malt. At $40 or less I would grab some both as an easy-drinking single malt and as solid blend fodder, but what's currently left appears to be 50-100% more expensive.

Whisky Review: AD Rattray Glen Ord 12 Year/1998

Glen Ord is a somewhat nondescript Highland distillery located west of Inverness. It produces a vast quantity of malt whisky, roughly 5 million liters, every year and also contains a major maltings plant that supplies not only the distillery itself by also other distilleries.

This particular whisky was bottled from a single ex-bourbon cask at a very hefty 60.1% without chill filtration or coloring.

Thanks to Florin for the sample.

AD Rattray Glen Ord 12 Year/1998 Cask #24

Nose: *very* grain-driven, kind of sour, berry esters, honey, oatmeal, light new make notes, green apples, lemon/pineapple/melon rind, woody vanilla, slightly floral and musky/bacon-y. After adding a few drops of water, the grain becomes softer, fatter, and more honied, the musky notes gain strength, and raisins and cherries pop out, giving it more refill sherry character.

Taste: berry/malt/honey sweetness throughout, sour green fruits/pineapple up front, fading into berry/fruit esters, toasted oak tannins, and vegetal/floral green malt notes. After dilution, it becomes much sweeter overall, the fruit (cherry, especially) and wood take on an exceptional balance and the alcohol is toned down but still leaves a lingering burn at the back alongside some grassy notes.

Finish: new make malt, lots of heat, sour pineapple, ethereal berries, and bittersweet wood

This is everything hinted at by the Singleton of Glen Ord bottling turned up to 11. The alcohol can often be overwhelming and it helps to air out the whisky before drinking it.

I really, really like the nose - it's just about everything you could want out of a younger bourbon cask malt. Lots of ester formation gives it all sorts of aromatic notes without getting muddled. The palate doesn't quite live up to the promise of the nose, but delivers pretty well. I didn't think it improved with water, despite the alcohol getting turned down a bit. Overall I can definitely see why Florin wishes he could by more.

Whisky Review: The Singleton of Glen Ord 12 Year

Diageo has released a number of different single malts under the Singleton moniker. Originally it was Auchroisk, as the people at the top didn't believe the average buyer could pronounce the name of the distillery and would thus pass it by.

More recently, they have released the outputs of three different distilleries in three different markets under the Singleton name. North America gets Glendullan, Europe gets Dufftown, and Asia/Pacific gets Glen Ord. Of these three, only Glen Ord used to have a fairly standard release as a single malt, though Glendullan was available as a Flora & Fauna bottling.

There was actually something of a hew and cry when Glen Ord was reconfigured as a Singleton brand as the old 12 Year bottling had a number of fans. Lets see how the new version holds up.

Thanks to Michael Kravitz for a sample of this whisky.

The Singleton of Glen Ord 12 Year

Nose: apples and pears, peaches, orange creamsicle, raisins, light citrus and caramel, solid malt core, a restrained undercurrent of oak. After adding a few drops of water, the malt becomes more prominent and grainy - almost like breakfast cereal, some graham cracker notes pop up, while the fruit almost disappears - there is a little bit of apple left.

Taste: lightly sweet caramel throughout, citrus, green fruit (apples and pears), and berries starting in the middle and continuing through, oak begins as an undercurrent near the front then gains ground near the back. After dilution, the flavors become very flat, with vague oak and malt sweetness throughout, graham crackers appear, the fruit all disappears, and it has an overall bittersweet profile

Finish: slightly grassy, sweet malt and caramel, very light oak, overtones of berries

While a very respectable whisky on the lighter end of the spectrum, it's also clearly been tampered with. The relatively flat flavors are a combination of the low bottling proof of 40% and what is almost surely chill filtration. The lack of sherry or oak suggests relatively inactive casks, which makes me pretty sure that it's been darkened with caramel color. The low bottling proof almost means that it can't really stand up to even a little bit of dilution. With that said, Michael likes it quite a bit more than I did, so your mileage may vary.

All of these things are a shame as the underlying spirit seems to have a lot going for it. I'd love to try some independent bottlings of Glen Ord.