Glen Moray Cider Cask & 1998 Cadenhead's Reviews

Hi everyone,

Glen Moray is one of those distilleries that keeps on experimenting, thanks to a handy ownership by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey who own a load of winerys.

Unrelated to that, I tried an amazing cider from Thistly Cross matured in Glen Moray whisky barrels. Maybe one of my favourite ciders ever actually. It was really good.

Anyway, it seems some of those barrels have come back the other way and finished off this UK exclusive.

Are cider casks legal as per the SWA?

No idea. Some have been told off for using Calvados casks before, SMWS used a gin cask and got a smack and, of course, Diageo were barred from using Tequila barrels…

And because I’m me, I’ve got an indie too!

 

Glen Moray Cider Cask 46.3%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Fresh and fruity, tonnes of green apple and pear esters, intense sour green apple chewy sweets, more and more of the cider as it develops.

Taste: Soft arrival, sour green apple, some red apple, some vanilla hard candies, Werther's Originals, caramel, quite creamy then becoming drier into the finish.

Finish: Medium length. More toffee and caramel here with an oaky kick very late.

UK exclusive, 2000 bottles. An interesting one to try. Not exactly sure that the cider has done a lot though.

73/100

Glen Moray 1998 Cadenhead's 55.5%

Colour: Straw

Body: Light

Nose: Light nose. Some malt, a little pineapple, very fresh and very very clean, some pastry and vanilla, a little grass maybe, hessian. Ethanol.

Taste: Soft and light, some grass up front then more fruity with pineapple and lemon, green apple, then malt, a little earthy perhaps, ginger and black pepper spice.

Finish: Medium length. Some chocolate and oak, quite dry here with a little green apple.

I guessed this was a 10yo Balblair! Not exactly what you'd expect from a 19yo but consistent with what Cadenhead's do from Moray.

71/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Reviews #697-#698

Whisky Network Reviews #833-#834

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Glen Moray Mastery Review

Hi everyone,

Glen Moray is not a distillery I consider myself an expert on by any means. Although I did go for a tour there a while back, I still haven’t tasted a bunch of their stuff and only one (very, very good) indie.

How did I decide to deal with this situation? By getting my greasy paws on the most expensive Moray I could find! A multi-vintage vatting, including 3x 40yo casks, with younger Port, Madeira and Sherry casks backing them up, this comes with an impressive price tag and a weighty stopper.

 

Glen Moray Mastery 52.3%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: A less woody Deanston Decennary, the port influence really comes through, strawberry, fragrant and perfumed, meaty raisin from the Sherry. Very nice nose indeed, even if the Port influence is a little too dialled up.

Taste: Soft and sweet, strawberry, classy, heavy oily orange and Balvenie-like oak, honey, floral, complex, building lovely black pepper, very impressive here. I remember the 1986 Murray McDavid being very similar to an older Balvenie and here the comparison comes back again.

Finish: Long length. A little burst of black pepper continues with some strawberry, oak. I’m such a sucker for strawberry.

Another great example of younger whisky improving some tired older casks, although its not quite as balanced as the recent Deanston Decennary since the Port has taken this one over a little more. However, the age and class on the palate is serious stuff.

87/100

Distillery: Glen Moray

Average Score: 75.6

Distillery Ranking: 30th/ 64 places

Up/Down: 38th> 30th (Up 8)

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #602

Whisky Network Review #714

Network Average: 74.6

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Aultmore 1997, Glenlossie 1993 & Glen Moray 1992 Cadenhead's Small Batch Reviews

Hi everyone,

More reviews today, this time from the independent bottler Cadenhead’s.

I happened to have a stand next to them at The Haig whisky festival in The Netherlands and therefore got the chance to try pretty much everything they had to offer. Which was mostly their Small Batch stuff because the other stuff tends to be single casks.

So, what they do with this range is take a small batch of casks (could be 2 or 5 but rarely more than that) and vat them together. Always from the same vintage too.

Serge is often quoted as saying that a small vatting of casks can be superior to single casks but I tend to disagree. Single casks can be more variable, while vattings tend to be more consistent but more variable can mean superb.

Anyways…

Aultmore 1997 Cadenhead’s Small Batch 53.1%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Chalky, lemony, spritzy and tropical. Dry oak, lemon peel, paprika, floral complexity, sponge cake and vanilla. Spiced porridge?

Taste: Floral, fizzy sweets, orange, dry oak, spice then suddenly very tropical with lots of mango and pineapple.

Finish: Medium/Long length. More oak and a nice level of spice. Dried mango.

From 2 Bourbon Hogsheads. 20yo. I quite like this Aultmore, I wasn’t wildly impressed by the official 18 but this I could get behind.

78/100

 

Glenlossie 1993 Cadenhead’s Small Batch 54.8%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Very grassy, freshly mown lawn, tropical fruit, vanilla, lemon, lemon sponge cake, austere chalky/slatey minerality. A little earthy too.

Taste: Intense, grassy, mineral, slate and chalk, some mango, calms a little then softens with malt, oak and some grass.

Finish: Long length. Grassy, very mineral and a little spirit at the end.

22yo. A really interesting one, I did not expect those mineral notes at all. Note to self: Try more Glenlossie.

76/100

 

Glen Moray 1992 Cadenhead’s Small Batch 50.9%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: A little closed, fruity, oak, green apple, lemon peel, spice box, green grape.

Taste: Quite soft, green apple citrus, then quite sour and acidic, dry oak too.

Finish: Medium length. Very acidic and some acrid rubber.

24yo from 3 Bourbon Hogsheads. A shame it goes too acidic, not my thing. Glen Moray seems to be a funny one. When it’s good, it’s really good but too much of it seems to be very average.

67/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Reviews #528-#530

Whisky Network Reviews #623-#625

Network Average: 74.6

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Glen Moray 1986 Murray McDavid Review [The Grand Old Duke of York]

Hi everyone,

This is a brand new one from Murray McDavid.

I’ve always wanted to try some older Glen Moray, having not been hugely impressed with the stuff I’d tasted on the tour there but hearing great things about some of the older versions from the independent bottlers.

I don’t remember there being anything amazingly special about the distillery itself. Just another Speysider in my book. Well, before this one.

 

Glen Moray 1986 Murray McDavid 49%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Old and antique. Oak, lots of it, musty orange, leather, old books, new car, cocoa powder, dry, orange peel, orange oil, a nice complex nose. Marzipan! How’d I almost miss that out?

Taste: Sweet arrival, orange, chocolate, orange peel, complex florals, complex oak and spice, white pepper, leather and chocolate, liquorice. The florals give this a nice balance from the old, oaky flavours. Love the abv too.

Finish: Long length. Oak more intense here, dry, dark chocolate.

30 years old. Lovely old whisky. Similar style to old Balvenie and great for it! Actually, it’s an equal to the Balvenie 30 in my mind. A big accomplishment really.

86/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #494

Whisky Network Review #570

Network Average: 74.5

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Glen Moray Distillery Tour & Tasting

Hello everyone!

(This was back at the end of June 2016)

Very excited at the moment. I'm in Speyside staying in the heart of Elgin. I'm here for an interview but thought I'd visit some distilleries while I'm here!

Once in Scotland I realised that Glen Moray (which is said Glen MURRAY) was spitting distance of my room, so I went I for a tour!

Lovely tour with very knowledgeable guide (despite being a young guy) and a nice tasting at the end. The only gripe I had was that we didn't get to see more of the still room, we stood just inside the entrance and could have a look at the old spirit safe (not in use). Three whiskies at the end, all generous portions, and all of which I had never had before.

Glen Moray 12 40%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Fresh Bourbon, toffee, honey, heather, lovely woodiness, green apple,

Taste: Soft, easy, green apple, lemon, more sour, quite acidic lemon juice.

Finish: Medium. Lemon juice and oak.

70/100

Glen Moray 16 40%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Fat, full, classic Speyside in Bourbon. Toffee, butterscotch, butter, some honey, pink lady apple, a little strawberry.

Taste: Quite sharp at first, lemon, some herbal grassyness, green and red apple, sour grapefruit, some toffee and softer apple.

Finish: Medium. Softer again, dried lemon and some chocolate.

71/100

This one is brand new I think-
Glen Moray Sherry Finish 40%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Strawberry jam! Raspberry jam! Very very fruity, green apple, lemon.

Taste: Very fruity again, apple, toffee, building sweetness, pink lady apple, strawberry, malt.

Finish: Short/Medium. Apple and fresh lemon.

73/100 because I'm a sucker for strawberry in a whisky.

Great day! Hopefully more to come!

Reviews #144-146

Network Average: 74.5

Best Score: 91

Worst Score: 44

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent