Glen Garioch 21 yo 2003 / 2024 Decadent Drams 55.1%

I like and admire this distillate but admit it can be challenging at younger ages. When mature it has a saline and mineralic character that could well be the poster child for the Highlands. Here the bourbon comes out a little strongly for my taste. A fine whisky nonetheless. We have sweet oak, wood polish, caramel on coconut chips and vanilla cream, which does go some way to make more mainstream the chlorine and charcoal filter aspects of the spirit. Carbon paper, stone dust, mastic and gentian bitters. It evokes stony hilltops and harsh winds. A lean and austere whisky under all that sweet wood, but true to itself. 89 pts