Whisky : Glen Garioch 23 Year (1992), Blackadder

Country/Region : Scotland/Highland

ABV : 60.1%

Cask : Hogshead

Age : 23 Year (Distilled 12 Nov. 1992, Bottled Jan. 2016)

Nose : Fruit, chocolate, musty dunnage warehouse. Crates of fruit resting in a musty dunnage warehouse; mangos, cherries, apple bananas, and starfruit. Thicker, sweeter notes slowly emerged with Karo syrup, kirsch, and black forest cake. At turns, there were subtle hints of nutty cashews and roasted sesame.

Palate : Medium-bodied and very oily with a sweet and sour profile of dried fruit, nuts, and tobacco. Musty dried fruits with sweet, salty, and sour-tart notes— preserved figs, green mango, and pomegranate seeds. The mild nuttiness of roasted sesame and pistachio pastries sweetened with rose water—musty sweet notes of a hookah bar near the end.

Finish : Lingering pomegranate and fruity floral notes.

Score : 8

Mental Image : Murad IV’s Clandestine Coffeehouse

Notes : Okay, so good old Sultan Murad IV was hardly running a hookah lounge, much less a coffeehouse. He famously banned them— they seemed the sort of place that bored seditious men might assemble, so this was more the image of a “prohibition” coffeehouse under his reign. In this place, sweet rose water and pomegranate liquors were available with a wink and a nudge or used to flavor pistachio pastries enjoyed between chess games under a sweet floral blanket of smoke.

This Glen Garioch was delicious. While the cask was given as “hogshead,” it was hard to imagine that all of the dried fruits came from anything other than a refill sherry cask. There was a beautiful balance between a reserved sweetness, mustiness, and sour/tart fruit. 

Overall, this was good, really good. I want more.