Amid the barrage of NAS expressions flooding the market, a new independent bottler has begun operating in Ranadale, Scotland, and from the looks of that first run of offerings, we can expect some great stuff to come out in his Grindlay’s Selection Single Cask Release. The initial offering consists of four single casks:
There is a 1997 Ben Nevis I review here, a 1996 Glentauchers, 2006 Craigellachie and 1996 Dailuaine. All are bottled at cask strength and range from the decade between 1996 and 2006 (or 19 to 9 years old).
George Grindlay worked in the industry for 36 years both at Diageo and as general manager of Tomatin before opening his own operation. I expect those deep ties in the industry to yield some seriously interesting casks 🙂
Grindlay’s Selection Ben Nevis 1997, Distilled 24/1/1997, Cask 33, Yield 228 Bottles (52.6% ABV, NCF, NC)
Appearance: Light bronze, very thin legs coming off a rather sturdy necklace.
Nose: Big hit of vanilla, quite a bit of oak and a slightly vegetal note. Some dryness on the nose, with a bit of wet wood, heather honey and baking bread.
Palate: Spicy (white pepper and clove), with that same vegetal note I was getting on the nose, followed by some sweetness with citrus rind bitterness. It’s almost chalky on the palate. It gets spicier as you get through the dram.
Linger: Bitter orange peel with some pepper, and spices running down the gullet. After a bit, you’ll get some sweetness creeping into the spice, a little like the aftertaste of sweet chili sauce. The spice in the finish stays with you for a while, and will throw in some sweet notes for a while.
Conclusion
This is an interesting cask from a distillery I don’t get to taste all that often. At £95, the pricing seems to be about where the market is today (which is a sad commentary on the state of the market today, but it is what it is) . There’s much promise for the other three single cask sample, which I’ll review here over the next few days.
Official sample by Scotland Grindlay.
Love Ben, so where/when will this be available?
It’s already available at UK retailers…