Glen Garioch 18 Year (2003) SMWS 19.60 “Cosiness in a glass”

Scotch Whisky Review : Glen Garioch 18 Year (2003) SMWS 19.60 “Cosiness in a glass“

Distillery: Glen Garioch.

Bottler: SMWS.

Region: Speyside.

Age: 18 year. Distilled February 17, 2003.

ABV: 58.6%.

Cask Number: 19.60.

Cask Type: First Fill ex-Bourbon Barrel.

Price: Part of an advent calendar curated by /u/federalagents, /u/dangerousdoorknob, and myself.

Color: 0.6, Old Gold. Natural Color and Non-Chill Filtered.

This is the seventeenth installment of this year’s Christmas Countdown. You can find previous installments here.

Nose: This is slightly prickly but overall comes across as rather bright and grassy with lots of hay notes. Things take a bit of a tropical turn with coconut milk, golden kiwis, and then banana runts. There’s a fruity, baked good note that reminded me heavily of a blueberry coffee cake that my wife’s co-worker had made for us a few days prior to having this whisky (that oddly didn’t smell anything of blueberries, somehow).

Palate: It’s a bit prickly for me and warm on the tongue. The warmth is certainly more on the pleasant side of things here than fiery. Adding a bit of water seems to amplifies things here. Mouthfeel wise, it comes across as rather chalky as if you’d just stuffed your face with a fistful of Smarties (the American kind). Adding a little more water manages to tone down the heat to a pleasant level again. It is fruity with starfruit and white peaches being the major notes. The starfruit is more like the waxiness of the fruit rather than the flavor. The peaches are absolutely dominant here – just needed some cream to complete things!

Finish: Shorter in length, it almost vanishes but then you get a little bit of a fruity residue. The fruits are a mix of tropical fruits and peaches.

Conclusion: Amazingly, I’ve apparently not reviewed a Glen Garioch prior to this one. I know I’ve had the 15 year old official bottling and thought to myself “hey, I need to try more Glen Garioch” but apparently keep forgetting to get around to it. This SMWS is a nice reminder that I should in fact be on the look to try more. The nose is brilliant with a really fun combination of some farmy notes, a ton of tropical notes, and some lovely blueberry-less blueberry coffee cake. The palate is a bit of a wild ride with some heat taming but the jump from Smarties to starfruit and peaches was a lot of fun to work through. The finish could be a little longer but the fruits there leave you wanting more and more.

Rating: 85.

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Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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