Thanks to Throzen for the dram.
When someone brings out a Glen Moray at a tasting, and this is only because we’re utterly spoiled, there’s a general feeling of… Okay. Like having pork chops. Not big thick properly made pork chops that are put into a sous vide and super juicy. I’m talking about weeknight salt and pepper topped thin pork chops for an alright meal. Maybe some green beans on the side.
That’s Glen Moray.
On the other hand I was at a tasting where I had just poured the worst thing we’ve all had. And this is one of those happy golden Cadenheads that we don’t see anymore because we, as whisky nerds, have been collectively bad or something.
Which is all a long way of saying enter Glen Moray 20 1998 Cadenhead Single Cask, a single cask of Glen Moray that was aged in an ex-bourbon hogshead. Simple idea, picked out by an independent bottler we all like. Let’s see how it tastes, and if it’s another pork chop dinner.
Price: € 104.00
Region: Speyside
Vintage: 1998
Bottled: 03.2019
Cask Type: Bourbon Hogshead
No. of bottles: 234
Abv: 52.2%
Colour: 5Y 9/6
Nose: Dandelion, grassy, grapefruit, orange sorbet
Light nose. Floral, grassy, and acidic. Just a tiny bit of sweet, opens up with some sorbet vibes when you add water. That said it’s never really super strong.
Taste: Sesame, farmy, peanut oil, zucchini loaf, orange oil
The whisky wakes up on the taste. If the nose was a simple pork chop dinner, then the taste is slapping you with a whole new thing. We’re talking Tex Mex for people in the 80s here. Really changing the weeknight dinner, but not crazytown.
Lots of oil notes, nutty, acidic, earthy-sweet, all with a nice toasted flavour.
Finish: Cocoa, chalk/sea salt, dandelion/honey, pear, musty
Long, though at times I’m not loving it. Goes from really bitter/simple to interesting. Really runs the gambit on flavours I like. One second I’m loving some cocoa and the next the teacher is out of the room and I’m getting chalk shoved down my throat.
What, just me who was bullied in school?
Conclusion: Varying levels of quality. An odd one. Hard to really pin down, like how trickle down economics “work”. The nose is light but nice. The taste really wakes me up and it’s so cool and fun.
The finish either hates me or loves me. Tsundere finish on this one. I’m not going to say it’s a bad whisky though: This isn’t a week night standard at all: It’s someone trying something crazy interesting from an ex-Bourbon whisky.
83/100
Scotch review #1349, Speyside review #367, Whisky Network review #2021
tomoderawhisky.ca 