Review by: The Muskox

These Kirkland mystery-Speyside bottlings have frequently been the best cost-per-age-statement deal in town. The identity of the source distillery is a mystery – I’ve heard Glenfarclas, Glenrothes, even Macallan, and that the source has changed more than once from batch to batch. Costco is already the best place to buy entire wagyu sirloin roasts or eight-pound boxes of nutmeg, is it the best place for whisky as well?

Photo courtesy of my friend b1uepenguin’s Whiskery Turnip blog (endorsed by Jim McEwan!), go read his review of this whisky!

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Distillery: Unknown Speyside.

Bottler: Alexander Murray.

Region: Speyside.

ABV: 46%.

Age: 24 years. Bottled in 2021.

Cask type: Finished in sherry casks.

Price: N/A, sample.

Color: e150. Chill-filtered.

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Nose: Sweet sherry. Strong baked apples, still a bit tart, with the full assortment of holiday spices. Sweet vanilla, toffee, chocolate rum balls, and orange oil. Leather and tobacco hint at the whisky’s age. Slightly floral.

Palate: Medium-thin texture. Rather thin arrival, with vanilla, green apple, gooseberries, and roast peaches. Earthy and chocolatey, with bittersweet notes of chewy burnt sugar. Rich oak on the development, along with old leather, fragrant tobacco, and dark chocolate. A bit perfumed – dried flower petals and sandalwood.

Finish: Medium length. Sweeter here. Coffee liqueur, chocolate cake, and old leather armchairs. A hint of dried ginger and even some cardamom. A little more apple.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Grandpa’s sitting room sweet jar”

Conclusion: Nothin’ wrong with that! Or, well, I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it, but what I mean to say is that this is a perfectly drinkable whisky, even a very tasty one. You can taste the age, which is sort of the whole point with a bottling like this. As for the distillery, honestly I got enough green apple from this that I think it could be Glenlivet. If money was no object, I’d just drink GlenDronach 21 or AnCnoc 24 instead of this – they’re both more balanced, complex, and flavourful. But considering how much less this costs, I’d be hard-pressed not to just get this instead if presented with the choice.

Of course, like always I’m going to score this based just on flavour. And it’s a quite-good-but-not-great whisky on that front. But I’d probably recommend picking up a bottle.

Final Score: 82.

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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.