Glen Grant 10-Year-Old (Released 2017) Review

Glen Grant 10-Year-Old (Released 2017) Review

In a blog post I wrote back in 2015, I expressed the view that the Glen Grant 10-Year-Old, was one of my favourite beginner’s budget Single Malts. The review was actually a comparison between the 10-Year-Old and the 16-Year-Old (released back in 2008).

https://rebmordechaireviews.blogspot.com/2015/08/glen-grant-10-and-16-year-old.html

Sadly, around 2016, both releases disappeared from the shelves. (They were discontinued in 2015). Then, at the beginning of 2018, the all-new branded releases of Glen Grant began to appear in the shops. There is the No-Age-Statement “The Major”, which I would guess is around 5 to 6 years old. Then there is the new 10-Year-Old, a 12-Year-Old, a 12-Year-Old Non-Chill-Filtered version (which I have not seen in Israel) and the top of the range and very expensive 18-Year-Old.

The Old Range

The New range

I know that for many years, people used to make fun of the old Glen Grant branding look, calling it kitschy. Many saw the picture of the two Scotsmen standing by a barrel drinking whisky as something akin to an old Victorian train poster for the Scottish Tourist Board. I personally thought the old fashioned artwork had a lot of charm.

My feelings were obviously not shared by the marketing department at Campari, (the Italian owners of Glen Grant) who have completely revamped the whole look. I my opinion, the result is an absolute train-wreck of a disaster. It looks completely nondescript. If their goal was to design a product which is guaranteed not to stand out in the ever increasing overcrowded whisky shelves, then they get the gold prize. It is a caricature of a generic bottle of whisky. Perhaps they were trying to employ reverse psychology by making it look so bland, it might actually stand out amongst all the single malts who are trying to stand out?

The Distillery

Ironically, there is nothing generic about the Glen Grant distillery which I visited in July. In fact, it is one of the most beautiful distilleries I have ever visited. People say that Edradour is one of the most attractive distilleries in Scotland but in my opinion, it’s not a patch on Glen Grant.

At the back of the distillery, it opens up into the most exquisite garden you have ever seen. Even if you absolutely hate whisky (Chas veShalom), it is still worth visiting Glen Grant for the garden alone.

Kashrut Status

Both the old 10-Year-Old and 16-Year-Old were (according to my research), exclusively matured in Ex-Bourbon casks. These new expressions are slightly different.

(Statistics on the new range are based on an hour-long conversation with a senior representative of Campari, at Glen Grant distillery back in July 2019):

The Major’s Reserve is 100% Ex-Bourbon.

The 10-Year-Old (40% abv) is around 10% Refill (old) Ex-Sherry butts and the rest Ex-Bourbon.

The 12-Year-Old (43% abv) has around 10-20% Refill Ex-Sherry butts and the rest Ex-Bourbon.

The 18-Year-Old is matured exclusively in Ex-Bourbon casks, bottled at 43% abv, is natural colour and Non-Chill Filtered.

So, a couple of months ago, I decided to buy a bottle of the 10-Year-Old in its new incarnation and give it a try. Cost was 120 shekels.

I opened the bottle on Friday morning and Friday night, after Kiddush and HaMotzei, I poured a glass for my daughter, son-in-law and myself and we sat back to sample this. Our immediate reaction was not positive. There was a distinct smell of acetone (nail polish remover). This is a combination of Iodine and the compound isopropyl (known as rubbing alcohol).

That Acetone Smell

Acetone is a typical smell one gets from a distillery’s new-make spirit, straight from the still, which has been hastily made and then which has not been given sufficient time to mature in the cask. Some sweet fruity new-make-spirit, such as Glencadam and Kilchoman, can be drunk, (with water added of course to bring the abv down from around 65% to around 45%), pretty much directly out of the still as their relatively long distillation and maximum contact with the copper stills and cooling condensers give it a lovely sweet white wine flavour.

Having said that, even if it’s not the best made spirit, it can still turn into the most delicious Single Malt whisky if left to mature sufficiently in quality casks which will impart aromas and flavours from the wood, as well as from the previous contents of the cask. In fact, some experts say that cask maturation accounts for 65% or more of the final flavour, with the new-make-spirit style, barley (malting and mashing), and yeast, coming in a distant second, third and fourth.

Unfortunately, this Glen Grant does not seem to have had the advantage of quality maturation either. Ten years of maturation in these casks was obviously insufficient.

I must also say that we did not give up on this new Glen Grant so easily. Even though it was bottled at the pitifully legal minimum 40% abv, we added a few drops of water and let it sit there for 15 minutes or so. This might tone down the new-make spirit influence and open up the alcohol a bit more to expose those hidden flavours.

Unfortunately, it did not help much. I then noticed that my dear daughter had all but abandoned her glass and was now eying a possible alternative from my collection. Yes, there were hints of white fruits such as apples, unripe melon and pair but none of the character of the old 10-Year-Old which I remember. I can still recall its sweet yellow and green fruits, toffee and slight bitter almond on the finish. Almonds or any kind of wood spices were nowhere to be found in this new aspirant to the name. Instead, the only bitterness which was present was our disappointment in this new release.

The Old Bottling

(So dissatisfied was I with the new 10-Year-Old release that I actually gave it away to a friend, which is why I could not take a photo of the new and old 10-Year-Olds together).

Now, I mentioned memory in my last paragraph. We should all be very much aware that sometimes memory can play tricks on you, especially when it comes to remembrances connected to flavour, aroma. It can be very heavily influenced by mood as well as the company you were with at the time, and of course the place. (Whisky always tastes nicer when drank at the distillery!) Moreover, people’s palettes can change over the years. (As one samples more and more whiskies, tastes can become more sophisticated and perhaps less tolerant of imperfections?)

So, when we all came to the conclusion that we were not impressed with this Glen Grant 10, I was still reluctant to write that the old discontinued 10-Year-Old release was oh so much better than this one. That is, until, as luck would have it, I had the opportunity to drink the old Ten-Year-Old again.

I was browsing the shelves of a wine store (actually it’s more like a machsan), that goes by the name “1,2,3 Alcohol” in the Yad Charutzim industrial zone of Talpiot, when to my total astonishment, I spied around a dozen bottles of the old Glen Grant 10-Year-Olds sitting there, with a rather attractive price tag of 110 Shekels! At that price, it was a no-brainer and I snapped up the bottle (along with a few other interesting whiskies there).

So, Shabbos Friday night, after Kiddush and HaMotzei and some really delicious genuine Scotch Smoke Salmon which we had brought back from the UK in our suitcases on our recent visit, (as far as I know, it is impossible to purchase genuine Scotch Smoke Salmon here in Israel – if anyone knows differently, please write to me), I poured three glasses for our whisky drinking guests at the table and then poured myself one.

From the very first pour, even from what we call the “neck-fill”, which is the whisky sitting in the narrow neck of the bottle (which some say does not taste as good as the whisky in the main part of the glass bottle), you could already tell from the aroma that this was going to be  absolutely delicious. And so it was. All the flavours which I remembered were there.

Everyone at the table was nodding their heads in agreement and enjoying this old Glen Grant.

I won’t go over the tasting notes again as I have already reviewed this. I can only strongly recommend that you get yourself down to either the “Bana Mashkaot” store or “1,2,3 Alcohol” in Talpiot and grab yourself a Glen Grant Ten in the old-fashioned kitschy box before it all goes. It’s even 10 shekels cheaper than the new 10-Year-Old release which sadly goes on my (very short) list of single malts to avoid.