Review by: Raygun

Another distillery and bottler I’m not too familiar with. Glentauchers is owned by Chivas and the majority goes into that company’s blends. They have started releasing some of the components as single malts under the Ballantine’s brand, but I don’t know if they plan to continue. Glentauchers IBs aren’t too hard to come by for those who care to, though I have to say this is one distillery I’ve never heard anyone particularly stan for. Maybe there’s a big Glentauchers fan or two out there. Initially tasted blind, with additional notes after the reveal in italics. Thanks to dustbunna for the sample. Rested about 15 minutes.

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Distillery: Glentauchers 

Bottler: Chorlton Whisky      

Region/style: Speyside single malt Scotch

ABV: 61.1% 

Age: 14 years. Bottled in 2023  

Cask type: Refill sherry butt, 610 bottles.   

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

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Nose: Weird. Caramel, fruit leather, and indoor swimming pool. Some wet earth. Milk chocolate and a hint of dried fruit. Also some barnyard. 

Palate: The nose was not promising, but fortunately the palate is better. Damn, this is oaky though. Extremely tannic. Caramel, cinnamon candies, apple cake. A toasted or charred flavor. Not especially malty. Big time heat here, and I don’t know how I missed it the first time. Some milk chocolate and strawberries. Water helps a lot. Plenty of cinnamon still.

Finish: Drying here as well. Doesn’t taste that old, but has a lot of oak. Cinnamon, salted caramel, sugar cookies. Faint touch of char. Water helps, but still very tannic. Apple cinnamon tea. 

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Guess: Nothing much comes to mind. It’s whisky, I’m sure about that. Irish, maybe? Not very Scotch-like, but it’s definitely not bourbon and probably not American single malt. Tastes like a used cask. Not that old, but still very tannic. I’m pretty baffled. I’ll say Irish, 14 years, 56%. 

Post-reveal thoughts: Got the age right, anyway. Not a whole lot else. Certainly didn’t pick up on the sherry cask on the initial pass, though I can kind of see it now. Some water probably would have helped get more of the flavors.      

Conclusion: Must be a very refill butt, because the sherry is minimal. Oaky and very hot, and benefits a lot from water. It’s tough to wrestle under control, and remains unusually tannic and spicy for something this age. I’m not big into cinnamon in whisky, which is prominent here. The chocolate and apple are nice though. 

Buy a bottle? Good, but not something I’d need a bottle of.  

Score: 77

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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)