Glen Garioch 14 Year Side-by-Side: Single Cask Nation (2011) vs. Tri Carragh (2009)

Review by: The Muskox

It’s nice to come home to tastings with old friends. These particular old friends each happened to own nearly-identical bottles of Glen Garioch, and figured they were worth tasting together.

Tri Carragh is a new indie bottler for me. I don’t know much about them, but the articles on their website, one about “the surprising health benefits of scotch whisky” and the other featuring AI-generated images of Christmas characters having a dram at the bar, don’t inspire confidence.

Bottle #1

Bottler: Single Cask Nation.

ABV: 50.1%. Cask strength.

Age: 14 years. Distilled April 2011. Bottled Summer 2025.

Cask type: Initially matured in a refill cask, then finished for two years in a first-fill ex-bourbon hogshead.

Nose: Malty, spirity, and floral. Lime, definitely, and some stinging oak (the note being passed around the table was “woodchips”. There’s some funk going on here, custardy like scrambled eggs, a little cheesy, and some plasticene.

Palate: Medium-thick texture, rather hot. Spirity here too, and rather dry. Malt and some light fruit. Plasticene has graduated (devolved?) to Play-Doh. Thyme. A little woody.

Finish: Fairly short. Heather honey, more thyme, and nut brittle.

Bottle #2

Bottler: Tri Carragh.

ABV: 53.4%. Cask strength.

Age: 14 years. Distilled February 19th 2009. Bottled in 2023.

Cask type: First-fill bourbon barrel.

Nose: Similar malt and lime notes to the Single Cask Nation, but sweeter and more plush. Vanilla and honey. The funk is here still but muted.

Palate: Medium-thick texture, rather hot again. Heathery, creamy, very nutty here, hazelnuts and peanuts. More honey and vanilla. Milk chocolate.

Finish: Medium. Swiss Miss (in taste and in texture!), caramel, almonds.

Conclusions: These are two extremely similar whiskies that seem to differ mainly in the amount of cask influence. The typical funks of Glen Garioch are there, but the extra time in first-fill casks really rounds off the Tri Carragh bottling. I didn’t find either of them to be overly compelling. The consensus was that the Tri Carragh was slightly better, but the SCN was slightly more interesting.

Final Scores:

Single Cask Nation: 76

Tri Carragh: 77

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.

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