Scotch Whisky Review #442: SMWS 63.72 “Commands Your Attention” Glentauchers 18 Year

Image credit to Whiskery Turnip, his review can be found here

Distillery: Glentauchers.

Region: Speyside.

Age: 18 Year. Distilled in May of 2002 and bottled in 2021.

ABV: 49.3%. Cask Strength.

Cask Type: First Fill Barrel.

Color: 1.0, Deep Copper.

This dram is the sixteenth of 2022’s Christmas Countdown! Whiskies from previous years can be found here.

Every year, I look at the advent calendar offerings that pop up across the pond and think that it would be super cool to do something like that (it is actually the inspiration for my review spree in December). Turns out, I wasn’t the only one who wanted to do one so between /u/federalagents, /u/DangerousDoorknob, and I we put our own together! This is the fifteenth dram of the calendar.

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Nose: There is a really funky note right after I poured it that I couldn’t place, it does go away after a bit in the glass. There’s a lot of greenery and it is quite grassy in general. Lemongrass, fresh parsley, spring onions, and leeks are what comes through.

Palate: It is really, really weird. The first note is of a chocolate hazelnut spread, which is quite nice, and then it gets super medicinal right afterwards. It reminds me a lot of Korean energy/health drinks, specifically somewhere between Vita500 and Bacchus-D.

Finish: Medium to short in length. Ginseng candies is the main note with a bit of nuttiness and a bit of chalk.

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Conclusion: With a name like “Commands Your Attention”, you would hope the whisky got that name for good reasons. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that is the case here. Certainly it does grab the attention but only because it is so strange. The nose is funky to start before going into a lot of greenery. The palate started really nice with chocolate hazelnut spread and then takes a sharp turn into Korean medicinal drinks. All of it is strange and a bit disjointed but it does certainly leave an impression. Not bad, but very strange.

Final Score: 76.

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Scotch Whisky Review #442, Speyside Review #161, Whisky Network Review #597

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky and I will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection if feasible.
• 85-89: Very good to amazing, almost the complete product and I’m likely wanting a bottle or two.
• 80-84: Quite good, pleasant overall though there is usually a few things that could be improved still.
• 75-79: Good, enjoyable to drink but ultimately flawed.
• 70-74: Alright, solid and wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.