This month’s oldest offering comes in the form of a Glen Moray draw from a 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel. 23 years is quite the long time for a 1st fill.
Nose: Sweet and herbal. Honey and golden syrup alongside lemon balm, nettled and mint leaves. Tropical fruitiness follows with pineapple and mango alongside nutmeg and clove spiced rice pudding. The addition of water reveals caramel biscuits (Twix!) together with orange zest and pink wafer biscuits.
Taste: Soft and fruit-forward with mango slices, guava and balled honeydew melon. Cinnamon and nutmeg sit alongside nougat and caramel (Mars Bars!) before fig rolls are joined by Happy Shopper cola and chopped almonds. Dilution pushes even further into fruitiness, offering – less depth, but more of a bright, fresh and juicy complexion.
Finish: Quite long with orange peels and perky cinnamon.
A solid core of well-matured fruit-forward notes keep this Glen Moray ticking over. There’s not really the expressive polished oak one would expected from over two-decades of maturation (which might be why this hasn’t made the Old & Dignified profile like other 35s before it), but there’s very successful expressive brightness here from start to finish. Recommended.