Glen Garioch 29 years old (D.1968, B.1997) Cask #9 / 56,6% / – Glen Garioch (founded 1797) is a small Highland Distillery located in Old Meldrum, in Aberdeenshire. Since 1968 it has been owned by Morrison Bowmore Distilleries, now part of Beam Suntory. Until the mid 1990s Glen Garioch produced pretty peated whisky. When it reopened in 1997, after being mothballed for two years, it switched to unpeated malt. Around that time Glen Garioch released number of single cask expressions under Official Distillery Archive range. They were bottled at natural strength and presented in elegant wooden boxes. The one presented here comes from hogshead # 9 filled on May 18, 1968. It was bottled at 56.6% abv in 1997.
Nose: big and powerful, earthy and peaty, roasted coffee beans, bitter orange marmalade, prunes, raisins, nutmeg, sherried oak, dried herbs and forest floor.
Palate: perfectly balanced, dried dark fruit, bitter chocolate, espresso, honey, roasted almonds, black pepper, leather, high-end cigar and distant whiff of peat smoke.
Finish: very long, with notes of sherry, peat, oak, dark chocolate, espresso, black pepper and a wisp of smoke.
