Review by: The Muskox
In case you missed my last review (which didn’t get published on the sub properly until a day after I posted it), I’ve spent the last month working in the northern Canadian wilderness, away from my liquor cabinet and from r/Scotch. But now I’m back and raring to review!
Today I was finally able to get together for a dram with my good buddy smoked_herring. Our go-to whisky bar has sadly upped the prices on their rarest bottles, but there are still plenty of dusty oddity bargains to be found. This out piqued our interest for our first dram – I side-by-sided some very similar 12- and 13-year-old bourbon-cask Cadenhead’s Glen Ords a little while ago, but those were modern releases both distilled in 2005, while this bottling was laid down way back in 1985. Let’s see if the Glen Ord spirit has changed much over time.
Distillery: Glen Ord.
Bottler: Cadenhead’s.
Region: Highlands.
ABV: 57%. Cask strength.
Age: 11 years. Distilled in March 1985. Bottled in September 1996.
Cask type: “Oak cask” (presumably refill ex-bourbon).
Price: N/A. $14 for a pour at the bar.
Color: Light gold. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Nose: Oily and floral-herbal. Almost some very light olive oil. Very fragrantly green, with spruce twigs and herb garden. Sweet fruit notes of key lime and pear, and some light vanilla and nutmeg. There’s a flinty, peppery bite on the nose as well.
Palate: Oily texture, full-bodied, somewhat hot. Fragrant and lightly sweet on the arrival, with citron, honeydew, white wine, and in-bloom greenhouse. Punchy and dry on the development, with black pepper, dried wood, earthy barley, and rock dust. Herbal on the back end.
A dribble of water mellows things a little, with some gentle green tropical fruit and sweeter malty notes emerging.
Finish: Long and herbal. Dried rosemary, mint, black pepper, hay, and minerals. A bit of paraffin if you squint.
Water adds some honey.
Possible SMWS bottling name: “Scented softwood sorbet”
Conclusion: Pretty nice! Herring and I agreed that this was a great choice for a starter whisky for the afternoon. My main complaint about the two modern Glen Ords that I tried was that they were lacking in some punch. No such issues here. I picked up those same pine-y and herbal notes in those 2005 bottlings, but here they’re more explosive and really dominate the dram. Dare I say, it’s more “old-school”? Despite being so herbal, the whisky isn’t unpleasantly bitter, and those touches of sweet fragrant fruit and barley help brighten things up a bit. Water helped bring those sweeter flavours out and cut some of the heat, and is recommended. After a month of trudging through fragrant spruce forests, maybe I’ve picked up a new appreciation for herbal drams??
Final Score: 83.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 