Review by: dustbunna
Glen Garioch historically has been one of the quieter children in the Beam Suntory stable, which is odd: despite sitting in the shadows of its sisters Bowmore, Laphroaig, and to a lesser extent, Auchentoshan and Ardmore, it’s a characterful Highland distillery (and one of the oldest, at that) whose production is entirely earmarked for single malt. That background role appears set to change: Suntory have made some massive investments to elevate Glen Garioch’s profile, to the tune of £6 million, including restoring their floor maltings and converting the wash still to direct-fire heating. This 12 year is their standard entry core release, bottled without chill filtration (though nothing said about color) at a respectable 48% ABV.
Distillery: Glen Garioch.
Bottler: Distillery bottling.
Region: Highlands.
ABV: 48%.
Age: 12 years. Bottled in 2022.
Cask type: Bourbon and sherry casks.
Price: $62 USD.
Color likely added. Non-chill-filtered.
Bottle open across approx. 4 months, notes taken leisurely across that period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder, regular-formatted notes taken further into the bottle past the halfway point, italicized notes taken towards the heel.
Nose: milk chocolate, apples, earth, sticky toffee pudding, a green vegetal note, red fruits, Necco wafers, Terry’s chocolate orange.
Palate: malt, oranges, wood spice, more red fruit, moss, more Terry’s chocolate orange.
Finish: medium long ~ oiled wood, ore earth and oranges, a musty note in the background, old paper.
Conclusion: This feels old-school in a lot of ways; it’s not trying to be pretty or follow the typical playbook. There’s a lot of earthy, bass-heavy, characterful distillate playing nicely with the fruits, spices and chocolate of the various cask influences. I would say this compares favorably with some of my preferred go-tos in Scottish malt at this price point, particularly Ardnamurchan AD/ and the Distell/Heineken cores of Bunnahabhain 12, Deanston 12 and Ledaig 10. At this price, this could easily go into rotation with them as an easy-but-not-too-easy, affordable whisky to sip on and contemplate. Tasty stuff.
Final Score: 85.
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 