Review by: Raygun

A quick note before anything else for the sake of transparency. This review was done with an industry sample provided free of charge, with no expectations beyond drinking them. As always, I do my best to provide my unbiased opinion, and readers can decide how they want to take this review. For more information, see our Ethics & Transparency statement.

The Artist Series is a yearly line of high-end single casks from LMDW featuring bespoke labels by a contemporary artist. This 13th series has labels by Iris Scott. It’s a very pricey series, and hence I hadn’t had any before. Was fortunate enough to get a full set of samples of this year’s to be able to try them. The Tamdhu 16 was fantastic. This Glen Garioch is the oldest of this series at 34 years. If I’m not mistaken, this would have been made back when Glen Garioch was using peated malt, before Beam Suntory bought Morrison Bowmore. Reviewed from a sample. Rested about 15 minutes. 

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Distillery: Glen Garioch   

Bottler: La Maison du Whisky   

Region/style: Highlands single malt Scotch

ABV: 45.3%. Cask strength.   

Age: 34 years. Distilled in 1988 and bottled in 2023. 

Cask type: Hogshead, 146 bottles.

Color: 1.1 burnished. Natural color and non-chill-filtered.

Price: Best I’ve seen is a little under $800

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Nose: Not getting any peat, but it’s a beautiful nose. Rich malt with pear, papaya, lemon curd, hay, and wax. Old books in a library with mahogany furniture. I could nose it for an hour.               

Palate: Wax, honey, and again a dose of tropical fruit. Papaya, mango, star fruit, and lemon. Not too sweet, not too tart. Nice crispness to it. Old furniture again. Definitely taste the age. It’s not too oaky (a refill hogshead?), but has that certain “old” something that I can never define. So many layers to it.    

Finish: Wax, old wood, honey, and a touch of something herbal. A bit like a cough drop. More cereal flavor. I don’t get much of the fruit here, other than a little lemon and pear; the waxy aspect amps up. Beautifully balanced.  

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Conclusion: Phenomenal stuff. This is exactly the style that I seek out these days; a simple bourbon hogshead set aside so time can do its thing. Nothing necessarily wrong with younger whisky per se, but there are certain effects that only come with long aging. I haven’t always been a huge fan of Glen Garioch. This one is great.   

Buy a bottle? $800 or so actually isn’t so crazy, but I couldn’t do it.

Score: 92

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky. (Convalmore 36)
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category. (Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1)
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram. (Ledaig 13 Amontillado)
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff. (Tomatin 18)
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting. (Glen Scotia 15)
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better. (Aultmore 12)
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink. (Glenmorangie 10)
• 50-59: Save it for mixing. (Old Pulteney 12)
• 0-49: Blech. (Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16)