Tropical beaches are amazing for multiple reasons: The heat, the feeling of serenity, the ability to basically sit around in underwear without judgement because “it’s a bathing suit”, and fresh fruit.
For myself, I don’t typically go to tropical locations, as my style of travel doesn’t really mesh well with them: The beach may be nice for a day, however, after that I want museums, culture, architecture, different food, whisky (duh), and fun exploration/events. In other words, my snobbery doesn’t stop at whisky.
Enter Glenturret, a distillate that ends up chock-full of tropical fruits. The perfect answer to not going to tropical locations and enjoying the freshest papaya ever. Today I’m reviewing sister casks from Signatory. The idea of two casks laid down at the same time and then pulled when they were “ready” is an interesting one.
Some whisky nerds will say they will be very similar. Other less-wrong ones will point out that’s horseshit. Let’s give them some examples, shall we?
Glenturret 29 1989 Signatory Cask Strength (Cask Number 238)
Price: €330
Region: Highland
Vintage: 21.04.1989
Bottled: 19.02.2019
Cask Type: Hogshead
Cask number 238
Number of bottles: 253
Abv: 44.7%
Colour: 7.5Y 9/6
Nose: Pineapple, raspberry jam, candied pear, white chocolate, cream
Wow, that’s a weak nose. I’m really pushing for these notes. Angel’s really did a hoarding on this dram. Don’t blame them, there’s lovely white chocolate mixed with cooked raspberry. That said, it takes time, and water only does so much given the low abv.
Taste: Vanilla, guava, brine, heather, toffee, cashews
Nice, now we’re going. If the nose needed coaxing, the taste is stir-crazy and it’s time to go outside. Floral, well-developed sugar, amazing vanilla, and a nutty note is right there, saying how-do-you-do.
Finish: Pineapple, papaya, almond milk, cumin, mango, brine
Finish that reminds you what it’s like to have a Glenturret: Tropical, tropical, and nutty/tropical. Bit of earth to balance it all, a nice amount of brine and acidity helps too.
Conclusion: A nice tropical Lowland type malt that didn’t totally work for me due to the nose being so, so, SO light. This should be the type of dram that’s in my wheelhouse every day, but man that nose was a letdown.
I mean, it’s twenty shades of tropical and a mixture of nutty and brine-y. What more could I ask for? It all works so nicely…. But I keep coming back to the fact I nearly had to shove my entire face in the Glencairn, and that’s “not cool” in my book unless you ask nicely and tell me you love me. So that’s a downside.
Otherwise, you’ll be very happy with this one.
84/100
Glenturret 29 1989 Signatory Cask Strength (Cask Number 232)
Thanks to /u/Throzen for pouring me this dram.
Price: €219.95
Region: Highland
Vintage: 14.04.1989
Bottled: 29.05.2018
Cask Type: Hogshead
Cask Number 232
Number of bottles: 258
Abv: 42.4%
Colour: 5Y 9/6
Nose: Wildflower honey, roast pineapple, gummies, green apple
More cereal, still with that Lowland-oh-this-isn’t-a-Lowland-but-that-style feeling. More roasted note, easier to pick up. Doesn’t give up much beyond that sweet candy fruit note though.
Taste: Wine gummies, lime, brown sugar, lime juice, dry pear, malt
A lot of lime is what I’m saying. Just lime upon lime upon a placemat made up of that guy who can’t hold all the limes.
Gets simpler here, beyond the sheer amount of limes.
Finish: Mineral, pineapple foam, cardamon, orange peel, malt
Luckily the dram shows off a different anti-scurvy method with the finish, going more on that orange heavy train. Mineral, some lighter acidity, and a malty note to play you out on.
Frankly, if I had this blind I’d guess it was 20-years-younger, which I’m hoping someone says about me someday.
Conclusion: A citrus heavy malt that tastes a lot younger than it is. It was fun, nice on the nose, but the rest didn’t really live up to the age. If you’re typically into younger Lowlands then this does similar, but it’s full of hiccups left and right. The taste is too lime forward, the finish is too orange forward… It’s all too bad, really.
It’d be nice on a warm summer day, and good to start a tasting, so there’s that. I’d grab it’s sister though over this bottling.
79/100
Scotch review #1204-5, Highland review #203-4, Whisky Network review #1850-1
tomoderawhisky.ca 