Whisky Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive to Be Enjoyable – Reviewing the Glen Moray 10 Chardonnay

This is a youngish 10 year old, fully matured in chardonnay wine casks, offering a very high value for money.

Glen Moray is La Martiniquaise’s sole malt distillery (they own a grain distillery at Bathgate, halfway between Edinburgh and Glasgow ), providing single malt whisky for the Glen Turner and the Label 5 blends. Incidentally, Label 5 is one of the top 30 selling whisky brands in the world (at number 27), and the 10th highest selling Scotch brand. This position created some apprehension around the sale of the distillery from Glenmoarngie to La Martiniquaise’s. In fact, Glen Moray actually got a boost by being sold off by the Glenmorangie Group following its acquisition by LVMH, where it was only an afterthought brand. While remaining in French hands, Glen Moray is getting its own time in the limelight as a bona fides brand. About 50% of the 3.3 million liters produced annually are sold under its own label. Half of the remaining 50% of production goes into the blends and the other 25% are traded in reciprocal deals with other blenders.

Photo Credit: whiskymag.com

Glen Moray’s core range includes the NAS Classic, the 10 years old Chardonnay Cask, the 12 years old and the 16 years old – all of them chill filtered, caramel colored and bottled at 40%. A 25 year old Port Finish and a 30 year old are also available, bottled at 43%.

Photo Credit: masterofmalt.com

Glen Moray 10 Year Old Chardonnay Matured (40% ABV)

Appearance: Light copper, very quick legs.

Nose: Fresh bakery scents, flowers, cereal, fruity (fresh fruit – apples, pears and some tropical fruit notes) rather than heavily white wine-y. The nose isn’t overly complex yet is very enjoyable.

Palate: Sweet and sour with some spicy notes of cinnamon and pepper.

Linger: Very short and a little peppery with a lightly dry note.

Conclusion

Light and very drinkable, this expression is an lesson in creating good quality, good value products using basic ingredients. Chardonnay is by no means a high end wine, quite the opposite. Yet, having sourced good barrels, brought them over to Scotland whole and having allowed the spirit ample time to mature (albeit only for 10 years, but the results speak for themselves) Glen Moray has created a delightful expression. Yes, I would have preferred it to be bottled at 46% ABV and non chill filtered and with no coloring. But when you compare it to the whiskies it’s competing against (both on price level and maturity) – the Glenfiddich 12, Glenmorangie Original and The Glenlivet 12 – this expression will hold its own. All in all, this is a very nice dram, delivering excellent VFM.

I had this whisky while visiting my friend Dr. Raviv for a lovely whisky aficionado evening! 🙂