Whisky Review: Glengoyne 17 Year

Unlike the last two samples of Glengoyne I tried, this is from the previous lineup. After Ian Macleod purchased the distillery from Edrington in 2003, they maintained a relatively nondescript set of expressions, with the 17 Year being the most popular among whisky geeks.

The spirit was aged in a mix of 65% ex-bourbon casks and 35% ex-sherry casks, then bottled at 43% with chill filtration and probably a bit of coloring.

I tried this whisky at the Highland Stillhouse.

Glengoyne 17 Year

Nose: fairly light overall - sherry, floral, dusty malt, apple cider, wine. After adding a few drops of water it becomes more floral, even lighter overall, and the sherry, oak, and malt integrate underneath everything.

Taste: light and a little thin at first, sweet malt, light sherry, floral, mild oak, a hint of something vegetal, very creamy, berries, savory vanilla, and a little pepper. After dilution a pleasant sour apple tinge is added throughout, there is more malt focus, the oak integrates nicely, and it becomes a little grassy.

Finish: sour berries, malty, mild oak bitterness, a little pepper

I went into this whisky with fairly high expectations. It has been fairly common to bemoan its disappearance from liquor store shelves, as it was an older sherry driven whisky at a very affordable price. As things stood, admittedly from a bottle that had been open for an indeterminate amount of time, I found it a little disappointing. While it was relatively mature and sherry driven as expected, it didn't have enough weight and body to make it something I was sad to see go. 

Whisky Review: Glengoyne 18 Year

Glengoyne 18 Year sits right in the middle of their range, between the 10, 12, and 15 and the 21, 25, and special releases above. In keeping with the trend through that range, it is significantly more sherried than the expressions below it. While I can't find definite information, I've seen suggestions that it is aged entirely in refill- and first-fill sherry casks, with a significant proportion of the latter. Like the 10 Year, I purchased this miniature while I was in Scotland in 2013.

It is bottled at 43%, without coloring but with chill filtration.

Glengoyne 18 Year

Nose: strongly sherried, a little dank, stewed fruit, savory, moderate American/European oak, vanilla/cacao, herbal/grassy, malt in the background. After adding a few drops of water it is more or less the same, but somewhat diminished except for amplified vanilla and some floral notes come out.

Taste: alcohol reads as stronger than 43% - strong sherry up front, joined by oak tannins around the middle, reduced sherry near the back with more noticeable malt. After dilution it is sweeter up front, with less sherry and more savory oak near the back.

Finish: oak spices, savory notes, polished oak, orange peel

Much like the shift from Tomatin 12 Year to Tomatin 18 Year, this feels like an entirely different whisky than the 10 Year. It has more in common with the defunct Glengoyne 17 Year, which was also very sherry-driven. I'm not sure if it's about the casks or the spirit, but the finish on this whisky reads a lot like Ben Nevis to me, with the peculiar twist of savory oak at the end. That would put it a bit ahead of Tomatin 18 Year, which is the most comparable whisky I can think of, assuming they're roughly the same price. In the States, where Tomatin tends to be significantly cheaper than Glengoyne, I'd give the nod to the latter.

Whisky Review: Glengoyne 10 Year

Glengoyne is something of an oddity, being located directly on the line that separates the Lowlands from the Highlands, all of a few miles north of the definitively Lowland Auchentoshan. The distillery is owned by the independent bottler Ian Macleod, who also own Tamdhu. I meant to visit it during my trip to Scotland since it wasn't particularly far from where I was staying in Glasgow, but weather and burnout on distillery tours kept me away.

It's a little difficult to figure out exactly what's going on in this whisky. It's bottled at the minimum of 40%, presumably with chill filtration but without coloring. While the distillery's website references sherry cask maturation, the profile suggests that most of them must be refill casks or there is a small minority of first-fill sherry casks in combination with a larger number of refill bourbon casks.

Glengoyne 10 Year

Nose: dominated by clean, fresh malt - hints of melon, green apple/pear, citrus, roasted grain, maple syrup, vanilla, sherry. After adding a few drops of water it gets muskier and some honey and berry notes emerge.

Taste: sweet malt up front, continuing through with some sherried roundness, hints of citrus, and bitter grain notes underneath building towards the back - very minimal oak. After dilution the sherry comes in stronger, but the bitterness at the back is also more pronounced.

Finish: fresh malt, a little vanilla, bitter grain

Even for an entry-level single malt, this is somewhat disappointing. While there are no overt flaws, it's just kind of boring. There are some decent things about the nose, but even those take a fair amount of time and effort to tease out. The palate and finish are just flat, with no real development. It is somewhat improved by the addition of water, which may be intentional, but seems odd for a single malt that is meant to introduce people to the brand.

With all that said, I think it's a fine entry point for blend drinkers dipping their toe into the single malt world - there's nothing particularly challenging and it has something of a blend-y profile, but without the grainy character of blends. It also has an attractive price point for people moving up from blends, but a little bit more money will get you the more well regarded 12 or 15 Year expressions from the same distillery. This is enough to make me want to try more from the brand, but I'll give the 10 Year a miss in future.