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.
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