Whisky : Glen Grant 24 Year SMWS 9.170 “Australian Outback”

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 53.7%

Cask : 22Y Ex-Bourbon, 2Y 2nd Fill American Oak PX Hogshead

Age : 24 Years (Distilled 25 April 1995)

Nose :  Fruity and exotic.  Dried goji berries, dragonfruit, and sour green apples opened up right away.  Earthy decay of a hothouse flower garden and wet maple leaves.  Sweet sugars wafted out with a few drops of water along with fresh strawberry shortcake and pears.

Palate : Medium bodied with a bright crisp profile and oily mouthfeel.  Loads of dried berries and cinnamon spice at first, then the body transitioned toward a meaty, almost iron-like, and faintly salty finish.  One taster recalled the copper-top battery notes on some Springbank while other settled on gamey deer meat.  A bit of water brought out more caramel and cinnamon apple pie.

Finish :  Lingering salt brined fruits.

Grade : 6

Mental Image : Venison Pie

Notes : I wanted to like this more than I did— an older Glen Grant with a refill sherry finish?  That sounds right up my alley.  While I did enjoy this and thought it struck a nice balance between cask and malt, it did not have the thickness or meaty finish that I was hoping for, especially after reading the SMWS tasting notes which referenced exotic flavors like Kangaroo meat.  Maybe this did taste like Kangaroo, I honestly would not know, though it did certainly have an iron or gamey note to it.

The nose on this was quite wonderful with a whole array of exotic fruit and flower garden notes.  The palate was a bit simpler and water took things in a direction I did not care for.  Overall, this was a bit too dry for my taste, though it did have a lot of interesting things going on.  I would happily order a pour of this if I saw it and nothing else caught my eye, but I would not go out hunting it down.  I suspect this would appeal more to bigger fans of Glen Grant, or even people who like the faint copper/battery funk in Springbank.