Glen Grant 16 Year (1980) Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection

Review by: The Muskox

I relish every opportunity I get to visit the malt mecca that is The Feathers pub, especially with my good friend and highly experienced dramsman u/smoked_herring. Our main target was that Coleburn, but this Glen Grant was ordered first as a warm-up dram.

Distillery: Glen Grant.

Bottler: Cadenhead’s.

Region: Speyside.

ABV: 53.9%. Cask strength.

Age: 16 years. Distilled in February 1980. Bottled in January 1997.

Cask type: “Oak cask”

Price: N/A. $18 CAD at the bar.

Color: Pale gold. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

Nose: Sweet fruit notes of muskmelon and green apple jump out of the glass. There’s a toasty maltiness here, some kind of home-baked crusty bread or maybe pizza crust. Roasted nuts and hints of honey and vanilla.

Adding a couple drops of water brings a custardy richness.

Palate: Fairly oily, with almost no heat. Fragrant and floral on the arrival – honey-dipped pears, tulips, clove, and cardamom. Sweet malt and more crusty bread in the middle before oak spice and soft leather develop. Just a hint of salt.

The water makes things less sweet, adding more of a citrus peel flavour and some chocolate buttercream.

Finish: Medium-long. Interesting mineral character here – mossy lake pebbles and a little more salt. The fruit is now cooked, with baked apples and lemon drops. Some more melon and a hint of clove.

Water adds a slight ashy note, but also hints of butter and cream soda.

Conclusion: This exceeded expectations for both of us. It’s full of plush malty fruity fragrant goodness, with decent complexity and interesting mineral notes to boot. I think I liked it better without water.

If you’re in Toronto and looking to try this, there’s about an ounce left in this bottle, so now’s your last chance.

Final Score: 86.

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.

Leave a comment