Glen Moray 8yo 65% ABV (A.D.Rattray).

Distillery Region-Speyside, Date Bottled-25.05.2022, Cask Type-Bourbon Hgshead / 1st Fill La Gitana Sherry Barrique, No. of Bottles-331, Cask Number-888, Age-8 Years Old, Date Distilled-12.08.2013, Strength-65.0% alc./vol.

After starting in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 2 years, most of this Glen Moray’s maturation took place in a 1st fill Oloroso sherry barrique from the beautiful Bodegas Hidalgo – La Gitana in Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

A.D.Rattray

Appearance

Nice thick swirl line, with slow medium thick legs, and teardrops. #thewhiskeychaps

Nose

Now, I think I’m getting coconut, might be, see if it grows on me. The white thick icing top of a Bakewell tarts, with orchard fruits, and green grapes. #thewhiskeychaps

Evergreen boughs come through, dried apricots, a touch botanical, green grapes, and starburst sweets. #thewhiskeychaps

Palate

Wow, those orchard fruits are here, a little drying, and plenty of spices. Dark plums, red liquorice, chilli spice, dark chocolate, a touch of lime too. #thewhiskeychaps

I’m going with raspberries, cinnamon, ginger, actually raspberry ripple ice cream someone had earlier, a sweetness comes through this one too. #thewhiskeychaps

Finish

Medium long, and more green fruit for me, and lovely syrupy sweetness too, cloudy lemonade, and white pepper. #thewhiskeychaps

My thoughts

Glen moray, one of the first Scottish whiskies i tasted back in the 1980’s. As time has gone by iv’e been lucky enough to try better and better bottles the distillery has produced, and some great independently bottled offerings too. This bottle sits firmly in the great Independently bottled section. It has massive ABV, and is very drinkable at that ABV, but would most likely need some water to reduce its strength if drunk regularly.

Even though it’s been finished in a 1st fill Oloroso sherry barrique the aromas and flavours were different to what i expected. This could be because iv’e not tried a whisky from a sherry barrique from this sherry producer. The flavour profile i got was actually a very pleasant surprise, which i enjoyed very much. This is definitely a whisky i enjoyed, and would love to have a bottle to enjoy.

A big thank you goes out to Paul, Ben and Cliff for dramming along with us on the tasting this whisky was a part of. And huge thanks go out to Caryn Inglis, marketing manager at A.D.Rattray, for joining us, and for the extra information about the rest of the bottles available from their Cask Collection #66, and answering questions from me, until far too late on the evening.