Glen Mhor! I had thought it was pronounced Glen Mor but as it turns out it's pronounced Glen Vhore - well, as I'm always reminded, I know literally nothing about anything, which as it turns out, makes things real fun because you're always discovering new things - I just love it! 

If there were ever any downside, it'd be that sometimes I don't immediately appreciate the gravity of what I have in front of me till much later when I've gotten on the Internet and try to piece together the fragments of memories of another weekender bender - ahh who are we kidding, it was a weekday bender. It's like the movie Memento, except instead of polaroids, it's a camera reel of photos of bottle labels, and just like the movie, I am the culprit of my own inebriation.

Glen Mhor before it was demolished, was situated next to sister distillery Glen Albyn. (Image Source: Glen Mhor Whisky)

Anyway, as it turns out Glen Mhor is classically one of those Scotch distilleries that shuttered in the 1980's during the Scotch crash that took out the likes of Brora and Port Ellen, and many more. Hard to imagine but back then even Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Caol Ila were put on the chopping block and were an inch away from being closed for good.

Nonetheless, Glen Mhor, which was built in the late 1800's, did finally meet its closure in 1983 (the same year as Port Ellen) and was subsequently demolished. Since then it's quietly (unlike Port Ellen) developed quite the cult following, many of whom are real fans of its "aromatic, treacly, quite sweet style", also sometimes said to be quite bold and muscular with a light peatiness.

The distillery was situated in the heart of the Scottish Highlands and was operated side by side with its sister distillery, Glen Albyn, which also met the same fate. It's malt whisky, as was vastly more popular at the time, was largely catered for a number blends, and so never quite bottled an official single malt expression. As a result you can only try it from a handful of independent bottlers such as Gordon & MacPhail.

The whisky found in Ernest Shackleton's hut in the South Pole had contained Glen Mhor malt whisky. (Image Source: The New York Times)

It gained some interest in the 2010's when some folks discovered that Ernest Shackleton, the legendary polar explorer, had in 1907 brought with him to the South Pole some blended whisky that had contained Glen Mhor malt whisky as a component.

In any case, the distillery was known to produce malt whisky that was typically aged for 10 years in ex-Bourbon casks, and was aged using a mix of Highland and Orkney peat - so a good mixture of sweet and medicinal flavours, and used their own locally grown barley. But perhaps most famous of which was its pioneering use of the Saladin box that was a new invention at the time that helped with a more even and automated malting process - basically a box where the malting barley would be poured into and would use a series of mechanical automations and conveyor belts to turn the malting barley regularly.

So today we're super fortunate to get to try a 10 Year Old cask strength example of Glen Mhor from Gordon & MacPhail's Cask, which would've been the best portal back into what the original Glen Mhor profile was like!

Very exciting!

By the way, if you're interested in learning more about Glen Mhor, there's actually a wonderful group dedicated to uncovering more about the bygone distillery. You can find their website here which is filled with Glen Mhor resources.

PS. Thank you D. from Friends With Drams for letting me try this!

Glen Mhor 1978, 10 Years Old, Gordon & MacPhail, 65.3% ABV - Review

Tasting Note

Color: Olive Oil

Aroma: It starts off rather rustic - cereal notes, oats , dried harvested barley, continuing onto hay, wild grass and white florals - but also sweet and buttery, almost alittle confectionary. There's buttery pastry, vanilla cream, honey - very Bourbon-influenced. Overlaid there's also a gentle wafting of some smoke - a little earthy but more towards cold charcoal smoke.

Just as you think that was it, it continues to deepen into something of classic Sherry notes - mulled wine, cooked red apples, baking spices, citrus, also alittle bit of walnut.

Taste: Alot of verve - spicy and peppery, very vibrant! There's then honey, vanilla cream, with a nugget of this really intense candied sweetness like candy corn and maltose candy. There's alittle bit of this musky, farmhouse nutty funk. It's really silky and creamy, and mostly vanillic, cereal, lightly of white florals, and also quite sweet.

Finish: Sweet vanilla and peppery again, but alittle more of those oak tannins, with a long, satisfying warmth.

My Thoughts

This was incredibly enjoyable - in particular that nugget of dense, concentrated candied sweetness on the palate - almost like a chunk of fondant, whilst all wrapped around this lovely rustic, farmhouse aesthetic. At times it seemed distillate driven and then at different junctures it seemed to display lots of ex-Bourbon influence but also ex-Sherry influence - so of an interplay of these three elements weaving in and out showcasing their wares. Also worth mentioning is the really creamy, buttery and confectionary texture, and just how cohesive and well-rounded it was throughout.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot