Glasgow Distillery Tweet tasting 25/01/22

Triple Distilled 46% ABV

Appearance

Very light in colour, with a nice thick swirl line and slow medium legs.

Nose

Cereals and grains, dusty strawberry laces, a touch of menthol, wood wax, and slightly botanical. Tinned pears, light perfume and sweet lemon too.

Palate

Cranberries and quite a lot of spices. Black pepper, cinnamon, ginger root, raw vanilla, mocha, cigar leaves. Star anise and cough candy.

Finish

Medium long, though the spices do linger, and I’m getting the botanical feel coming back here, with meadow flowers, sweet perfume, and Pontefract cakes.

My thoughts

I had the pleasure of tasting this whisky when it was released, and iv’e enjoyed it just as much second time around. The depth of aromas and flavours are very good, and at 46% ABV it is a very capable whisky, a great sipper.

Tokaji cask Finish 53% ABV

Appearance

Again very light in colour, straw like, the medium thick swirl line beads up immediately to drop slow thick legs.

Nose

The ABV jump is very evident, and I’m getting green grapes, greengage’s, a touch of sweet lemon, fruit cocktail syrup from the tin, lightly toasted bread, and royal icing. Lychee’s, I just couldn’t bring it to memory until now, and someone suggested rose water, a great shout.

Palate

Nice mouthfeel, and a tsunami of spices and darker fruits for me, and it’s almost fizzy. Lots of hot cinnamon gobstoppers here, Plums, dates, and something I can’t quite put my finger on but it’s an ice cream flavour I think. There’s a lovely apricot crown pastry thing going on, with some cinnamon swirl in the next bite, followed by apple strudel now.

Finish

Long side of medium in length for me, and again the spices really do linger. Grapefruit, espresso, cigar leaves, dark chocolate, orange zest, very nice.

My thoughts

I have seen a couple of whiskies finished in this Hungarian white wine cask, but until now hadn’t tasted one. This bottling using this type of cask has been very successful in my humble opinion. It brings lots to the nose, palate and finish, with a full range from sweetness into spiciness and into dark fruits and a little bitterness, very nice indeed.

Ruby Port Cask Finished 56.2% ABV

Appearance

Strawberry juice from a tin in colour, nice thick swirl line that beads up immediately again, with thin to medium thick legs.

Nose

It’s fizzy up my nose, dry red wine, dusty, leathery, dark chocolate, cranberries, red apple skin, and slowly sweetening up. It is sweetening up now, and it’s very much red berries, strawberries and raspberries, perhaps a touch of menthol too, and watermelon?

Palate

A tsunami of spice hit me first, then it subsided a little. Dark chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate orange, char, black coffee, cherryade, seaweed, liquorice, star anise, and Jammy dodgers.

Finish

Sweet red fruitiness, and back to those lovely dark chocolate bitter notes, quite long too, the spices certainly hang around some.

My thoughts

Well what can i say, except i love this bottling. It started off with the darker heavier notes for me and gradually sweetened up, it’s a real sensory experience, and that colour, it doesn’t lie.

Sauternes Cask Finish 53.7% ABV

Appearance

Damp straw in colour, a medium thick swirl line slowly drops medium thick legs.

Nose

Lovely lovely peat, sweet lemon glazed bacon joint, strawberry ice cream, tomato sauce, perhaps the lychees have come back too, this has a deep nose. This is so much a bbq and fire off in the distance, getting that waft in the breeze.

Palate

Lovely mouthfeel, and bitter lemon and peat initially for me. Then red berries and bbq smoke, brown sauce, dates, white pepper, sticky ribs, black treacle, molasses. The warmth goes on and on with this one, chest warming for sure.

Finish

Loooooong, lol, all of the palate notes last right to the end for me, and it doesn’t just drop off, the peat continues to hang around for quite some time.

My thoughts

Peated spirit and Sauternes, what a delicious combination. The peat is full on in this bottle, it almost slaps you initially, then the fruits start to come forward, though the peat never disappears, it’s constantly there. Yes this is an gorgeous dram, such a mouthful.

Cognac Cask Finish, Single Cask, ABV Unknown

Appearance

A touch lighter than mid gold in colour, with a medium thick swirl line and slow medium thick legs.

Nose

Is this peated spirit? I’m getting pineapple and gammon, barbecue sauce, a touch of menthol, weetabix, apricot pasties again, and Smokey.

Palate

Now the palate is a sweet/peat combo, loads of lemon, sweet and bitter, then cranberries and cherries, the sweetness is winning over the peat slightly now I’ve sat with it for longer as some have said.

Finish

Long side of medium in length for me, and it continues to be a great balance of sweetness and peat. It does become darker right at the end with dark chocolate and espresso coffee, and a touch of drying.

My thoughts

It’s great to see a single cask in this evenings line up. And the peated spirit is well and truly here, full on initially then calming down after a while. This one took a little while tom open up, at least it did for me. My patience was rewarded with sweetness, grains, and finally darker heavier slightly bitter/spicy notes, which i do love. This again is a lovely whisky, i like everything it has to offer, but if drunk quickly some of the experience would definitely be missed, expect to be a little patient.

Overall tasting thoughts

I was lucky enough to taste the initially released bottlings from the Glasgow distillery, and they are rather good. Four of these samples were new to me and have shown the commitment they have given to producing great quality whisky. The New Make Spirits they produce are superb, their cask management and usage is perfect, all five samples being very good, the future that looked so bright has now come to fruition, and long may it last.

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