Starting things off in Elgin with a Glen Moray that was laid down in October 1995 and left to mature in a 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel for 23 years.
Nose: Polished fruits are up first – soft and lacquered – peach and apricots livened with tart apples and ripe pears. Very fruity indeed. Running throughout, floral notes – quite perfumed – rose water and Turkish delight alongside daisies and a touch of chamomile. Smoothed, planed oak panelling is joined by hessian cloth, waxy lemons and green spices. The addition of water favours tropical notes with the introduction of mango and guava alongside heathery wild honey.
Taste: Fruit-forward and with some creamy texture - peach and particularly apricots sitting with mango yoghurt, crème brulee and glass of lemon barley water. Spicing develops in the mid-palate, pepper and ginger – both rather dusty – before earthiness takes over with dried soils and vegetalness sitting alongside biscuit crumbs and fresh oak. Reduction does not introduce any radicalism, but it does pronounce a tinned syrupy aspect of the stone fruits which is entirely pleasant.
Finish: Quite long and combining fading yellow fruits with souring peppery liqueurs.
There’s a lot to like about this well-aged Glen Moray – expressive fruitiness, controlled spice and cask influence and a positive (if every day) reaction to dilution. It’s a emblematic near quarter of a century ex-bourbon maturation at heart – no unexpected thrills, but a totally solid offering all the same.