The second Grindlay’s Selection I tried was also from a distillery that’s off the beaten path for most whisky anoraks. Glentauchers was the signature malt for Buchanan’s Black & White, and later lent character to Teacher’s. After switching hands yet again, today under Pernod-Ricard’s Chivas Bros., it’s a main part of Ballantine’s. In fact, Chivas Bros. have a special edition series of Ballantine’s 17 that highlight each of the four distilleries that can be considered signature malts for various versions of the blend: Glentauchers, Scapa, Miltonduff and Glenburgie. A more standardized edition shows up in the G&M Distillery Label series, but that’s about it. Every other Glentauchers you’ll encounter if from independent bottlers.
Photo Credit: chez-arthur.be
Which brings us to this bottle, definitely qualifying as the best Glentauchers I had.
Photo Credit: scotlandgrindlay.com
Grindlay’s Selection Glentauchers, Distilled 16/12/1996, Cask 7811, Yield 210 Bottles (54.5% ABV, NCF, NC)
Appearance: Gold with thin and pretty quick legs.
Nose: Honey, sweet lemon, vanilla and butter cookies dough. There is a little bit of a fresh floral sweetness on the nose and a hint of maltiness, too.
Palate: Lemon rind and pepper, this dram has a most lovely bitterness on the palate. The spice washes over the tongues, the recedes to allow the bitterness to dominate. There’s quite a bit of spice heat here, and a faint hit of cranberry.
Linger: Here too do the bitterness an spiciness play in the mouth, with the bitter notes taking the sides of the tongue and the inner cheeks, and the spiciness dominating the gullet and the back of the tongue. A floral sort of honey comes throught on the front half of the tongue
Conclusion
This dram hits a lot of right notes for me, with a lovely hit of bitterness on the palate. Definitely a bottle to own.
Official sample by Scotland Grindlay.