Review #424 - Single Malts of Scotland Glen Garioch 10 Year Single Cask
Our first experience with Glen Garioch - this distillery is seeing a bit of a resurgence in popularity in whisky circles over the last couple of years. It's one of the oldest operating distilleries in Scotland, established back in 1797, and it sits on the far Eastern side of the country, near the coast in the Highlands.
This particular example was bottled by Elixir Distillers and their Single Malts of Scotland brand, as opposed to a distillery bottling. It was aged for 10 years in a single ex-bourbon cask, which yielded 221 bottles at a cask strength of 57.1% ABV.
Single Malts of Scotland Glen Garioch 10 Year Single Cask
Scotland/Highland - Single Malt
Current Locally Available Price: USD 119 (2024)
Age Statement: 10 Years
Strength: 57.1% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon cask
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; cask 973, distilled March 20, 2013; bottled December 14, 2023; 221 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; bottle 80% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: A light complexion - some malt, grass, hay, a bit of white pepper. There's an interesting yeasty note, or yeast-forward bread scents; biscuits add more of a baking side. Oak is mild but drying.
Palate: Warming and peppery, leaning a little bit to the dry side of the flavor spectrum - oak, some tannins. There's a buttery note in the background, along with subtle sweet honey. The mouthfeel is medium-thick.
Finish: Freshly baked bread, buttered toast, and a decent amount of malt; then we get grass and hints of hay. Nice and bright and bready, and in the aftertaste, a bit of minerality and salinity add interesting depth. Texture is nice and oily.
Final Note: A pleasant, if slightly simple, introduction to Glen Garioch distillery - because of the younger age and the standard ex-bourbon maturation, this one seemed to be more distillate-forward, which we always enjoy. Nice bready and malty notes throughout the tasting, and we really liked that minerality at the end.
Value is just okay - some of these IB single casks can be a bit expensive in our area.
Our Average Rating: 6.5 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 5.29
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
Check out our other Single Malts of Scotland reviews:
Review #412 - Single Malts of Scotland Reserve Casks Laphroaig 7 Year
Review #395 - Single Malts of Scotland Linkwood 14 Year
Review #227 - Single Malts of Scotland Reserve Casks Clynelish 10 Year
Review #222 - Single Malts of Scotland Reserve Casks Linkwood 13 Year
