Crabbie 30 yo John Crabbie 48.6% (allegedly Macallan) vs Glengoyne 40 yo Single Malts of Scotland 56.8%
I am sure I am not alone in preferring this shot of the old Macallan to the shrine to commercialism that is the new distillery.
Crabbie 30 yo John Crabbie 48.6% ~ bottled 2018 (allegedly Macallan)
A single cask. And by this nose, refill I think. Soft and plush with lots of jammy tones, a tangy glazed maraschino, cocoa powder on confections, allpice and black pepper, and soaked tea leaves – so a little prickly with tannins as well. The spirit is nicely rounded off with good maturation but still keeps its structure tight. Toasty cereal and malty elements remain. Juicy red berries. Some dry cardboard on the tongue, black ink and quite some spicy and burnt sort of oak tannins starting to show. It’s all there but done with the panache of middle management civil service. So tick tock check the box but a little boring. A solid 86 pts.
Glengoyne 40 yo Single Malts of Scotland 56.8% ~ bottled 2017
So, Whisky Exchange. Yup avalanche of rich dried fruit as expected, all sorts of purples and viscous fruit juice. A wall of raspberry and dark chocolate bricks. Lots of thick black tea, enough to power a construction crew. Soot, snubbed candles, charred wood and tar. Not quite into soy sauce territories yet though. Caramelised sugar left just a moment too long on the stove. Liquorice sticks, stripped and dried out bark. Goopy resin-covered twigs. On the tongue it maintains an enveloping richness and shows off a dry cinnamon and dessert spices dustiness with little leafy notes. Very delicately tiptoeing the line on oak tannins so it’s heavy yes but not yet blocky or unbalanced. Very good one. 90 pts.
Whiskyrific RSS
- Lagavulin Distiller’s Edition 1994 / 2010 lgv.4/498 43% vs Lagavulin Friends of the Classic Malts 12 yo 1995 / 2008 48%
- Glen Grant 27 yo 1955 / 1982 Samaroli 43% vs Glenury Royal 24 yo 1966 / 1990 Cadenhead 53.8%
- Lochside 22 yo 1979 / 2001 Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask 276 bttls 50% vs Lochside 32 yo 1982 / 2014 Malts of Scotland #14019 55.2% vs Lochside 29 yo 1981 / 2010 Thosop 50.5%
- St Magdalene 25 yo 1964 / 1989 Cadenhead 44.2% vs St Magdalene 23 yo 1970 Rare Malts 58.43%
- Caol Ila 15 yo Sestante for Novecento 64.7% vs Caol Ila 15 yo Sestante 65.3%
- Glen Garioch 25 yo 1990 / 2017 LMdW ‘Artist #7’ Cask #2694 52.3% vs Glen Garioch 1968 29 yo 1968 #625 57.2%
- Clynelish 90 yo 1972 / 2002 Scotch Malt Sales 58% vs Clynelish 23 yo 1974 / 1998 Rare Malts 59.1%
- Scapa 12 yo 40% ~2000 vs Scapa 8 yo Gordon & Macphail 57% ~ late 80s
- Bruichladdich 21 yo 1992 / 2014 Duncan Taylor #3987 49.7% vs Bruichladdich 22 yo 1991 / 2014 Gleann Mor #2270 55.9%
- Rosebank 26 yo 1967 / 1994 Signatory #4397 51.7% vs Rosebank 25 yo 1967 / 1993 Signatory #4393-4394 54.4%
