Glen Keith 23, 1993-2016, Whisky Magazine Editor's Choice, Cask Strength Whisky, Hogshead Cask No. 97175, 177/270, 52.6% abv.

Limited release for the Japanese market. Like the majority of UK distilleries, Glen Keith has a strange past. It basically went from 1958 to 1999 and then Chivas reopened it in 2013 with the intention of making spirit for blended exports.

Nose: initially light fruits, then a closer sniff revealed poached pears and apples, a little smoky and woody, however after awhile it changes quite a bit to vines and trees, those long fibrous green leaves on those small bushes that look like agave plants.

Palate: light and mostly a mollasses type of sweetness, some wood, somewhat herbal, light tar, back palate is pastry like.

Finish: medium to long, dry, sweet smoke, gingerbread cookies, apple juice mouthfeel, somewhat of a high abv mouthfeel.

Dry glass: perfume powder, some less sweet fruits, very aromatic, very different from that traditional wax that most whiskies give off.

Wow this one did extremely well in all tasting aspects, aromas, taste, finish. Even the aromas from a dry glass were amazingly good! All were different, strong, and flavorful. Strangely enough, I felt a slight imbalance as if the whole experience was a little incoherent, and even though I genuinely feel its a great whisky, it feels like a whisky that was manufactured by an industrial or systems engineer, designed to satisfy a variety of requirements, but lacking an overall unifying framework. However, after several more sips, the abv seems to "tug" it all together, making it less compartentalized. Seems like sugarcane with a lot of alcohol. Perhaps I am still too amateurish or immature, but its just missing that ooomph, that signature element. But what a whisky!

Grade: B

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Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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