Whisky : Glen Grant 15 Year SMWS 9.174 “Strawberry jalapeño ice cream”

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 55.0%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon (13Y), First Fill Ex-Red Wine Barrique (2Y)

Age : 15 Years (Distilled 2 Mar. 2004)

Nose : Salty, fruity, and surprisingly creamy.  Dehydrated apple and pear chips, strawberry jelly, fresh plums, and cinnamon apple pie.  Beyond the fruits were salt and meaty spices; jalapeño cream cheese dip, spiced swordfish jerky, seared ginger ahi.

Palate : Medium bodied with a viscous creamy mouthfeel.  Opened with a London Fog tea latte: early grey tea, dash of vanilla, and frothy milk.  Herbal ginger syrup, lemon peel, malted chocolate balls, and a kiss of red pepper heat.  Milk chocolate and cream stayed on the end with a mild dryness.

Finish :  Medium length Mexican hot chocolate.

Score : 6

Mental Image : Hot Chocolate Apothecary Shop

Notes : I imagined this dram to be something like the experience of visiting a shop that specializes in exotic concoctions and varietals of hot chocolate.  A hipster bar with house-made syrups and bitters that can be sprinkled into a glass of warm creamy chocolate to create something unexpected and surprising.  To my knowledge, nothing like that exists, and if it did I am sure it would be too expensive for my taste.

I was surprised at just how chocolaty this Glen Grant turned out to be by the end, especially as the nose felt so much more focused on fruit, spice, and cream.  I wished some of the meatier notes on the nose came through on the palate as the flavor profile did feel a bit simple.  While the dram had a great mouthfeel and wonderful tea notes, there was nothing about it that really popped out of the glass.  Overall, this was just fine and quite tasty, definitely an above average dram, but one without the hooks to really climb a whole lot higher.