Whisky : Glen Grant 17 Year SMWS 9.191 “Granny’s kitchen on baking-day”

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 55.4%

Cask : First Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrel

Age : 17 Years (Distilled 11 Sept. 2003)

Nose : Orchard fruit, pie crust, and a subtle salt.  Sliced apples, butter, orange zest, a pinch of salt, cinnamon, and persimmons.  Salt and malt gave the impression of warm pretzels along with crisp dry semi-sweet baking apples.

Palate : Thick and slightly oily with notes of fruits and pastries.  Initially apple pie filling with cut apples, butter, cinnamon, and a hint of salt before shortbread cookies and pie crust came to mind.  Transitioned at the end toward citrus fruits, oranges, and floral orange blossom.  Water brought out more tropical fruits, shortbread, and salt.

Finish :  Lingering fruit skins with a mild dryness.

Score : 7

Mental Image : American Pie

Notes : Fruity but not overly sweet, this Glen Grant had a wonderful salty side that brought balance to thoughts of apple pie.  I love a good semi-sweet apple pie— all the better to pair with a big scoop of ice cream.  This was well balanced with a lot of nice fruity complexity and a wonderful transition toward more tropical notes with a few drops of water.  If this were a bit waxier I would have thought it was Clynelish.

Overall, this was an incredibly friendly and enjoyable Glen Grant.  There were no off notes or rough edges to this dram, just lots of homey baking.  This was another well-named SMWS bottle and, to no surprise, it was very popular at a local tasting.

This reminded me a good deal of the 22 Year Glen Grant from Lady of the Glen that I tried not long ago with very similar fruit and pastry notes— albeit a bit more tropical from the get go. I scored it a 7 as well, but I would give it a slight edge over this if I were ranking them.