Glenglassaugh ‘The Spirit Drink that Dare Not Speak Its Name’ 50% 50cl
New make spirit/ Tasted: Oct 2009
Actually the aromas are rather sweet in character and quite light and not overly oily. There’s the obvious youthful cereal aromas but they are pretty soft. It’s quite floral with a white cider vinegar note and a touch of pear drops.
The palate is of a greater oily disposition, opening with the youthful cereal. The malt begins to arrive with a chocolate-maltiness and it has become quite chewy. The alcohol is soft and unobtrusive which is impressive considering its abv. It finishes with a mouth coating grist/ flour impression.
Glenglassaugh ‘The Peated Spirit Drink’ 50%
Tasted: Mar 2011
Just like the ‘Spirit Drink that Dare Not Speak Its Name’ the aromas have a lovely sweetness with fresh rose petals and lightly oiled cereal. Fairly lightly peated with said peat showing a pleasant earthy character.
The palate displays the same sweetness as the nose. Quite gentle with Turkish delight/ rose water notes. There is some really good depth to this with plenty of cereal and malty digestive biscuit flavours. The peat is dry and not overpowering and moves into a light coal dust dénouement towards the finish. Superbly balanced with the sweetness returning.
It is ideal at this alcoholic strength as with the addition of water it becomes a touch soapy and more oiler on the nose, whilst the palate loses its character.
Glenglassaugh ‘The Spirit Drink – Fledgling XB’ 50%
12 months ageing in ex-Bourbon casks
Tasted: Sept 2011
Quite sweet on the nose with plenty of bourbon oak influence – toffee, butter and vanilla. However there is a crisp green fruit note which to me had a sort of celery –like quality? With time it becomes more herbal with some cider vinegar notes and hints of barley and citrus.
The palate is soft and barley sweet with the toffee’d oak less dominant. Intense, malty and cerealy on the middle with a touch of rose petals. Good length with a tart citrus finish.
Glenglassaugh ‘The Spirit Drink – Blushes’ 50%
6 months ageing in ex-Californian wine casks
Tasted: Sept 2011
The nose is pure redcurrant/ raspberry in syrup. Very liqueur like with hints of straw and subdued new make notes. The palate is a bit peculiar as the red fruits sit rather oddly with the new make cereal notes. However it does have a lovely spicy, citrus finish with some tannins mingling with the syrup.
I think it would make a good mixer, so in a heretical manner I added a drop of lemonade! And….. It gave the nose a slightly confected but distinctly redcurrant jelly like character, whilst taking the edge of its new make character. Actually my girlfriend rather liked it, so there you have it another one for the girlies!
Glenglassaugh ‘Revival’ 3 year old 46%
First and Refil Sherry butts, finished for 6 months in First Fill Oloroso.
Btl: 2012/ Tasted: Sept 2012
Sweet-ish crunchy cereal aromas to begin with, mingle with light, yet intense toffee’d Oloroso notes. Hints of straw, milk chocolate, red berries, orange and salt emerge. Obviously youthful but exceptionally clean and very pleasant.
The palate opens with soft, juicy, earthy-toffee, walnuts and caramel. The sherry is unobtrusive allowing the cereal notes to come through. Slightly piquant on the middle leading to a fresh, slightly chocolatey, red berry and straw finish. A smidgen on the short side, due to its age and the salty notes but there is a good fruit sweetens and a little honey which mitigates to a certain extent. It does finish with a lovely spicy twist though.
Glenglassaugh Revival 46%
First and Refill Sherry butts, finished for 6 months in First Fill Oloroso.
Re-Tasted: Nov 2013
The nose opens with some lightly toffee’d oak and gristy, sweet barley and sweet malt. The sherry comes across very much in a refill style adding a little richness to the mix, but the distillery character of citrus, gooseberry and fern comes through, although in saying that there appears to be more oak on the nose than the last time I tasted it. Lightly perfumed with time and very enjoyable.
The palate opens with the sweet-ish barley, green fruit and citrus before the coffee’d refill sherry notes arrive. Still very fresh, invigorating and lightly piquant with hints of straw and nuts. Good length and possibly a little more evolved than the last time I tasted it, plus as the nose would suggest a little more oak too.
Glenglassaugh Revival 46%
Vatting of Bourbon & Red wine casks, finished for 6 months in First Fill Oloroso.
Tasted: June 2018
Given all the different cask types the nose is very well balanced, opening with barley, minerals, honey, white fruit and hints of sweet red cherry along with a touch sherried dried fruit. Showing more maturity now as the spirit is around 7 years old with a light, salty twang and late hints of desiccated coconut and soft, woody spice.
The palate opens with the silky American oak vanillins and crunchy barley. Hints of honey and winey red fruit follow, along with oily banana, apricot and salt on the middle. The sherry comes through gently on the finish, along with a touch of charred Bourbon oak and peppery wood spice.
Glenglassaugh Revival 46%
Code: LL13591/ Btl: Jul 2017/ Tasted: July 2021
The wine cask influence is very noticeable. Toast, winey, juicy raspberry and strawberry fruits with – hints of malt and ginger. Quite fragrant with pot pourri and subtle, edgy dried fruit – raisin, plum and late salt.
The palate also shows more wine cask than I remember. There’s loads of toast French oak, raspberry and redcurrant, which is a bit dominating. Hints of malt, sweet dried fruit and spice on the middle. Long, juicy, pot pourri finish with lingering toast wine cask.
Glenglassaugh ‘Evolution’ 57.2%
Aged in ex George Dickle casks/ Tasted: Apr 2013
The nose opens with very intense aromas of crisp green apple, grass, cucumber and gooseberry along with hints of straw and cereal. Then the under ripened banana and pineapple notes arrive. Really fresh and forceful with the oak coming through adding an almost vanilla ices cream note. A real wake up for the senses!
The palate opens the other way around with the buttery oak showing first, followed by the green fruit, crisp cereal and a light ‘toshan-esque rose petal note. Wonderfully clean with a sharp barley focus on the middle. Mouth-watering finish with a little youthful oiliness.
With a drop of water the soft squashed banana, apple and green fruit aromas are let loose as the oak becomes more subservient. Wonderfully fruity! The palate is a little lighter with more oily cereal as the oak recedes. However it’s still subtly fruity. A beautiful, young spirit with a light rose petal note on the finish.
Glenglassaugh Evolution 50%
Re-Tasted: Nov 2013
Lowering the abv from 57% to 50% appears to have made the oak more dominant – pure crème brulee, but that lovely fresh green fruit – gooseberry, kiwi and green banana cut through like a hot knife through butter. Pleasantly gristy and lightly perfumed with some dusty spices too.
The palate is light, malty and biscuity with some delightfully crunchy barley evident before the fudgy oak arrives. Like the nose the green fruit and citrus balances it superbly. Less youthful and oily than I remember. Good length with the creamy oak returning on the finish.
Glenglassaugh Torfa 50%
Bourbon/ Peated to 20ppm
Tasted: July 2014
An exuberantly tropical nose of kiwi, apricot and banana. The fruit is wonderfully fleshy with some fresh, crunchy citrus, fragrant green apple, lavender, gristy barley and manure. A light, sweet, peat smoke note wafts in and some creamy oak notes appear. A beautiful nose.
The palate is soft and barley led with a more restrained tropical character. Lightly creamy oak and taught citrus come through on the middle. Lovely intensity with the citrus becoming increasingly tart as a light peat smoke note emerges. Good length with gently sweetened tropical fruit returning and mingling with the smoke. Charming crisp green apple, citrus and lightly salted after-taste.
Glenglassaugh Torfa 50%
Re-Tasted: Dec 2014
The nose opens with slightly burnt straw, earth and a touch of medicinal peat. Hints of honey, orange and white fruit follow. A good degree of sweet malt balances the peat well.
The palate is a little hard with some herbal spirit notes. Intensely spicy peat with some rough/ raw earthy notes and hints of celery. Long, dustily peated and spicy with a light honeyed character attempting to balance the sub-industrial notes. In conclusion: The nose was very impressive but the palate was a little hard and unyielding.
Glenglassaugh Octaves Classic 44%
Tasted: Sept 2016
A crisp and herbal nose with sweet apricot, banana and pineapple, all gently coated in cinnamon and nutmeg and drizzled with maple syrup. Luscious and juicy with some rye-like herbal notes.
The palate is overly oak dominated, which is a surprise given the nose. A touch of citrus attempts to balance the toffee but the oak really bitters. It does add some lovely pure cocoa, but it’s still too bitter! The finish is seriously bitter. Yes there is a touch of banana, toffee and vanilla but nowhere near enough sweetness. In conclusion: If only the palate mirrored the nose.
Glenglassaugh Pedro Ximinez Sherry Wood Finish 46%
American/ Pedro Ximinez
Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Nov 2017
Aromas of youthful barley and thick, treacly PX. Hints of burnt coffee, and floral/ woody fruit. Hints of green apple, greengage and gooseberry counterbalance the sherry character well.
The palate is rich and full of dried PX fruit, treacle and sweet liquorice. Polished and succulent, but very sherry dominated. Long with lingering burnt coffee, raisinated fruit, dried grape and a subtle minerality.
Glenglassaugh Port Wood Finish 46%
American/ Port
Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Nov 2017
The nose is dusty and sweetly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. The port notes are quite sweet and dense, but fairly unassuming, which allows the sweet-ish barley to come through. Like the PX finish it’s very polished and classy.
Soft, smooth and dense with juicy port fruit and a subtle, but balancing minerality. Lovely sweet barley on the middle, along with some sweet and bitter spices. Very polished and elegant with a long, spicy and mineral finish with lingering juicy red fruit and barley.
Glenglassaugh Peated Virgin Oak Finish 46%
Peated to 22PPM
5 years in ex-Bourbon, 1 year finishing in Virgin oak/ Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Nov 2017
Aromas of butter milk and toffee, shot through with edgy, herbal peat. Hints of aromatic, sweet barley and white fruit appears but the emphasis is on the interplay between spirit and wood.
The palate opens with soft vanilla, followed by spicy/ peppery wood tannins and hints of camphor, earth and medicinal peat. Very grippy and intense with the pepperiness building. Long and sooty with lingering dry vanilla and medicinal notes.
Glenglassaugh Peated Virgin Oak Finish 46%
Peated to 22PPM
5 years in ex-Bourbon, 1 year finishing in Virgin oak/ Btl: 2017/ Re-Tasted: June 2018
Subtle but pungent heathery peat on the nose with hints of earth, vanilla, barley, oily apricot, banana and spicy, taught oak. A touch of oak char is noticeable as well as a light saltiness. Very balanced and elegant.
The palate is soft and elegant, opening with barley and honey. The peat is less pungent than the nose but still displays the same heathery and woody character. Lightly smoked middle with the grainy oak appearing. Again fabulously balanced by the oily apricot and banana. Lovely sweet vanilla and spicy oak finish with hints of ginger, nutmeg and paprika.
Glenglassaugh Peated Port Wood Finish 46%
American/ Port
Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Nov 2017
The nose opens with the winey redcurrant jelly and sweet, slightly floral fortified fruit. Dense and rich with plenty of warming spice and subtle, earthy peat with faint iodine and medicinal notes. Sweetly fruited and very polished.
Full and porty on the palate with drying wood tannins, wood embers and earthy peat. Mouth-coating, syrup laden fruit follows to offset the tannins. There’s a lovely battle on the middle between the syrup and the drier, peaty elements. Long and sweetly spiced with that battle continuing. Slightly mineral after-taste.
Glenglassaugh Rare Cask Release 2011 (8 year old) 55.2%
Peated spirit aged in ex-rum cask No2/ Bottled for Tyndrumwhisky.com
Dist: May 2011 Btl: 2020/ Tasted: Aug 2021
The phenolic and earthy peat shows first followed by salt. There’s a subtle rum sweetness beneath along with barley, banana, apricot, white chocolate and subtle tropical fruit infused honey. Late toffee and ginger notes.
The palate is warm, slightly oily and full, opening with rummy dried banana and pineapple, followed by sweet honey, barley and subtler salt and earthy peat. The alcohol keeps the sweetness in check and the finish is long with loam, ginger, almond, vanilla and caramel finish.
Water brings out crystalised citrus (orange/ lemon/ lime) runny honey, white fruit. It’s freshened the nose but the peat has disappeared. The palate is a little oilier, which mutes it a little. More rummy sweet fruit and no peat. Definitely not as complex now and there is a slightly bitter oak finish now.
Glenglassaugh 1983 (26 year old) 46%
Sherry/ Dist: 1983 Btl: 2009/ Tasted: Sept 2011
The nose is quite reserved, almost astringent with sub-industrial brittle honey followed by mature oak, dried fruit, walnuts and malt. I feel the aromas are at odds with itself – one minute there is a hint of sweet perfume the next some slightly murky linseed oil.
The palate is hard and almost industrial in character. Subdued and low key with a bit of a murky character. It also seems old and the wood is a tad tired.
Glenglassaugh 1983 (26 year old) 46%
Sherry/ Dist: 1983 Btl: 2009/ Re Tasted: June 2012
The nose is mature and slightly floral with a touch of sherry oak. Slightly industrial with hints of liquorice and luscious honeyed citrus. The oak becomes quite creamy with time and a distinct herbaceous character emerges which gives it a fresh edge.
Soft yet slightly industrial and oily with plenty of mature apricot and oak, which is creamy and slightly sherried. The middle is earthy and quite mouth-watering as the alcohol arrives. Good length with a touch of marzipan, but slightly drying due to the tannins and alcohol.
With a drop of water some floral, orange blossom is released and it has become rather luscious and juicy. A touch simpler now, maybe but there’s still some creamy vanillins. The palate is a touch softer, although the slightly oily industrial notes haven’t totally disappeared but it’s showing a degree more honey along with some fleshy fruit and a touch of spice. Longer now with a slight sugar coated after-taste.
Glenglassaugh 30 year old 44.8%
Code: LG101153/ Tasted: Nov 2013
The first new release from the distilleries new owners has a beautiful, rich, luscious, nutty sherry nose overflowing with mature dried raisin, plum, coffee, chocolate, leather, treacle, walnuts and duty library spices. However it’s not all sherry as the distillery signature green fruit and citrus is discernable. Very poised and elegant with no off notes whatsoever!
The palate is soft and luscious, again opening with the mature sherry notes of juicy dates, plums, raisin, liquorice, treacle, chocolate and walnuts. Just like the nose some green fruit and citrus peeks through. Very long and dusty with a beautiful cocoa powder fade. A truly majestic malt.
Glenglassaugh 30 year old 44.8%
Re-Tasted: Dec 2014
Moist Armagnac-esque aromas of prunes, walnuts, dates, dark honey, treacle and dark violets. Very deep and showing some maturity with hints of coffee.
Big, supple and sherried on the palate with moist dates, prunes, grapes and walnuts. Plenty of dark treacle and honey notes which are balanced by hints of citrus and wet stones. Long and moist with the dried fruit lingering and being joined by hints of vanilla and pepper. In conclusion: An impressive sherry monster!
Glenglassaugh 30 year old 44.8%
Code: LJ70051/ Btl: 2015/ Tasted: Feb 2015
A nose of chunky, robust and slightly treacly sherry which oozes liquorice and a light Armagnac-esque dried fruit rancio of sweet raisins, sultana and spice.
Not the cleanest of palates but the Armagnac-esque fruit is full and juicy, but the oak is also beginning to bitter. The finish is very bitter.
Glenglassaugh Rare Cask Series – Aged Over 30 years 52.3%
Single cask bottling – 34 years old
Approximately 33 years in refill hogshead/ 15 months in ex-Sauternes cask
Dist: 1976 Btl: 2011/ Tasted: Sept 2011
The nose opens with a beautiful intensity of mature tropical fruit, dried grape and lovely mature sawdusty oak, which moves into creamy butterscotch. The complexity of the honey aromas is stunning, deftly melding sweetness and brittleness. With time some Armagnac-esque dried fruit and citrus oils emerge. It does have some sub-industrial moments but the weight of honey never lets them dominate.
The palate opens with some gentle mature honey and the Armagnac-esque dried fruit, followed by hints of demarara sugar, dried grape, walnuts and no shortage of wood notes. The honey takes on a brittle, edgy character and fights back against the wood and with some aplomb holds out until the death even though some chocolate and coffee notes seep through. Eventually the oak does bitter out the finish but in saying that the lovely natural oils balance it out. A wonderfully venerable and entertaining dram.
Glenglassaugh 1972 (37 year old) 58.9%
Bourbon/ Dist: 1972 Btl: 2010/ Tasted: June 2012
A serious complex nose. Dried grape, walnut, old coffee laced with marzipan, honeycomb, vanilla, angelica and wood polish. There are hints of stewed apple and lovely, gentle spices. Seriously deep and mature with some late herbal notes.
Gently honeyed and full on the palate with plenty of sweet dry spice, hints of walnuts, dates, moist fruitcake along with a touch of herbal marc and wood tannins. The alcohol is quite piquant and leads to a mouth-watering, violet tinged, honey, beeswax, vanilla cream and praline finish. Stunning!
With water the nose becomes wonderfully luscious with the mature American oak becoming seriously creamy and some lovely, soft peppery spices now apparent. The palate has become as lush as the nose, so, so, so juicy it’s mind blowing! The fruit has taken on a beautiful slightly tropical sheen and the length is amazing as is the purity of the mature American oak. Just like the nose some lovely, warming peppery spice has appeared and lingers!
Glenglassaugh 1967 (43 year old) 40.4%
Sherry/ Dist: 1967 Btl: 2010/ Tasted: June 2012
A stunningly mature nose of the softest, juiciest dried fruit imaginable. Raisin, sultana, moist fruit cake, old wood polish and chocolate. The herbal distillery character comes through a touch. All round this is a superbly dense and moist nose!
Soft, juicy and quite chocolatey on the palate with raisins, burnt wood, juicy dried grape and silky, mature honey, liquorice, dark toffee and molasses. Seriously mouth-filling but the alcohol and herbal notes balance it beautifully. Stunning length with marzipan, dates, walnuts and sweet licqourice. My god, this is good! It finishes with some slightly smoky spices and a light coating of walnut oil. There is a slight bitterness from the oak but at this age that can be forgiven. Absolutely stunning!
Glenglassaugh Rare Cask Series – Aged Over 40 years 49.2%
Single Refill Sherry Cask bottling – 45 years old
Dist: 1966 Btl: 2011/ Tasted: Sept 2011
The nose reeks of maturity, as one would expect. The oak presence is stunning, sometimes cedery, sometimes a bit bourbon, sometimes a bit fir like with buckets of dried spices. However the nose is not all about the wood there’s a lovely depth of honeyed dried fruit, which displays a molasses/ rum-like dénouement before becoming reminiscent of an old grain. Hints of smoke and burnt wood drift in and out just to add to the complexity.
The palate is impressively fruity, opening with mature cherries in light syrup before the rum-like dried fruit and spices arrive. A sensationally beautiful melange of extremely mature, earthy honey, sweet spices, bitter oak and dried fruit caress the tongue. The melding of spirit and wood is mind bogglingly good. Superb length with some serious coffee/ mocha moments, finishing with some luscious juicy date and prunes. A truly stunning dram that almost defies a tasting note!
Whisky According to Chris Whiskyman 