Label: Glen Garioch

48% alc./vol.
Glen Garioch Distillery, Oldmeldrum, Highlands, Scotland

A little Glen Geery to continue the momentum? In any case, that's how you pronounce the highlander Glen Garioch.

In this case, Glen Garioch used to ripen American white oak barrels that have never been used before, hence the name "virgin" oak. It's a bit fashionable these days to use such barrels, hoping to impart a stronger flavor to these malts. Unfortunately it does not lend itself to all expressions ...

As the Italian pacifist and patriotic journalist of Unity, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1907, so aptly put it, Ernesto Teodoro Moneta (1833-1918) said so well:

If a man changes his wife, it is in order to find in the new a blank ear for his stories.

Amber almost brown adorned with delicate legs. Good alcohol despite the fact that the influence of the bole is difficult to discern with the naked eye.

Nose:
All in all, not unpleasant. Cereals, apples, dry oak, spices, with a hint of vanilla to represent well the origin of its barrel.

Taste:
Sweet honey, fruit in syrup, some salted caramel, grilled malt. Definitely a nice surprise after a nose that did not promise the stars.

Finish:
Of a good length, it leaves us on a mixture of sweet dark chocolate with the orange and Cheerios with honey and walnuts.

Balance:
It may be far from other Glen Garioch, but it's still a small single malt that defends well. Better in any case than his cousin Auchentoshan under such conditions.

Note: ★★★★★

55.3% alc./vol.
Glen Garioch Distillery, Oldmeldrum, Highlands, Scotland

The fourth expression of the evening of November 12 with Iain McCallum at Scotch Whiskey Club of Quebec is one that was almost unanimous among the members, the Glen Garioch 1995 Cask Strength.

The club had already tasted twice this year, in January and April, the vintage of the previous year, the 1994 CS. He had always been the favorite in those evenings. And although it does not matter, the 1995 hits a check mark above and good yenne it's good. He really does not have his degree of alcohol, it's amazing how sweet he is.

As would have said so well, if he had been present with us at the tasting, the French impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926):

The gentleness of man for the beast is the first manifestation of his superiority over her.

Very pale gold, even paler than the 12 years.

Nose:
None, but no aggression by its alcohol level. We start with soapy berries and then be surprised by a real explosion of flowers. It reminds me of a good joke ...

This is the story of a father who had three daughters. One day the first comes to see him and asks him:

- Dad? Why is my name Rose?

The father answers:

- Well my darling, it's because the day of your birth, a rose petal fell from the sky and fell on your head.

Satisfied with the answer, the first girl leaves, and Dad's second daughter introduces herself with the following question:

- Dad? Why is my name Marguerite?

- Well my darling, it's because the day of your birth, a petal of daisy fell from the sky and settled on your head.

She too, happy with the answer, leaves the room. The third and last girl then comes in front of her dad:

- Ggjhbvihkggffjkhjhh !!!!

- TA GUEULE, FRIGIDAIRE!

A second visit to the nose gives us a sweet blend of toffee and caramel, or even a nice big spoon of maple butter.

Taste:
Creamy to death. A tidal wave of salted caramel, toffee and spices. Green grapes with a bewitching minerality. Simply divine.

Finish:
Long and spicy like the 1994, with a little salty side mixed with an edible flower impression on the cakes like royal icing that my mother did when I was a kid.

Balance:
Un cask strength incredibly sweet and sweet. Majestic, a sleigh ride smoothly. At the time of writing, the quantities in SAQ are dangerously low. I would feel bad to tell you not to spit on the occasion. Another great favorite of this legendary distillery.

Note: ★ ★ ★ ★★