Whisky: Glen Grant 25 Year (1985), Douglas Laing's Platinum Selection

Country/Region: Scotland/Speyside

ABV: 58.1%

Cask: Wine Finished Barrel

Age: 25 years (Distilled July 1985, Bottled Feb. 2011)

Nose: Leather, wax, charred wood, cherries, coffee, chocolate, hints of baking spices, meaty with peppercorns and salt after more time, cedar and apricot.

Palate: Medium to full-bodied, syrupy and slightly waxy, sweet cherries, vanilla, orange, chocolate, seared meat, wispy smoke, balsamic, pipe tobacco, hints of sulfur and rubber, salted plums and wax, cedar and citrus at the end.

Finish: Very long with cherries, molasses, leather, and hints of tobacco.

Score: 8+

Mental Image: Ron Swanson’s Dream Birthday

Narrative & Notes: An aroma to put a smile on any face— dinner in an ancient but well-kept steakhouse. The scent of worn and waxed leather booths with hints of charred wood, snuffed-out candle wicks, melted candle wax, and beeswax arrived with candied cherries from an order of cherries jubilee at a nearby table. Dark roasted coffee and a dark chocolate soufflé with subtle chicory, nutmeg, and clove felt appropriate for the occasion. Finally, seared meat and more savory notions of peppercorn, salt, and aromatic cedar wood came to the fore, with apricots teasing in the background. Medium to full-bodied and syrupy with a gradual waxy buildup across the palate. The profile featured sweet fruits, leather, balsamic, and wispy smoke as it shifted through different layers. An initial hit of sweet cherries and smoke-infused maple syrup with hints of vanilla, orange, hazelnut, and chocolate gradually faded as more savory elements of seared meat, salt, and balsamic developed. Rich pipe tobacco kicked in with hints of sulfur and salted plums as waxed leather, beeswax, and hints of classic car rubber. Toward the end, cedar and citrus carried the whisky to a classy conclusion. The finish was very long with cherries, molasses, leather, and hints of tobacco.

Fantastic stuff— this vintage Glen Grant featured well-integrated and distinct layers of flavor. Each dram was a journey that became increasingly familiar as my wife and I enjoyed the bottle. This bottle was a massive splurge when I bought it, so I might be slightly more biased than usual with it, as anyone will be more inclined to like something they spent time and money acquiring.

The official tasting notes from Douglas Laing mentioned wispy smoke, and I was glad to see that those elements did show through on this whisky. That is not what I associate with Glen Grant today, so it showcased an older style. Though some of the fruits, meat, and saltiness can still be found in more recent Glen Grant, the modern spirit leans more toward orchard fruits. Yet, it was more than an old-fashioned approach to a lightly peated malt; the cask was also potentially a piece of history. The designation of a wine-treated barrel can mean a few things, but one possibility is a cask treated with paxarette, that highly concentrated sherry-adjacent concoction that the SWA has not allowed for several decades now.

Overall, brilliant.

Theme: End-of-Year Favorites

The theme this December 2023 is cleaning the house, and the reviews posted this month are either things I did not get a chance to slide into a theme week earlier this year, drams I have poured to celebrate the holidays and end of the school year, or as part of our online whisky group’s mystery dram advent calendar. These are posted in no particular order!