10 year old Glengoyne laid down in August 2008 in a 1st fill ex-bourbon barrel. View on SMWS
Nose: Intense and certainly spicy – a whole range of piquant peppers – chilli, bell and ground black alongside rich toffee sauce, espresso beans and burnt toast. Running throughout peanut butter spread and baked apple pie. Reduction brings out a much fruitier aspect – wine gums, raspberry and quince jelly and slices of dried mango.
Taste: The arrival is as bold as it is as spicy. It’s also quite greenhouse in nature – fresh vine tomatoes, chilli peppers, tart green apples and sharp gooseberries. An unusual combination. Vanilla pods, and creamy custard are supported by black pepper spicing and drying oak tannins – the two side pair strangely well. The addition of water soften things up quickly with a basket of tropical fruits – mango and lychee – alongside creamed rice. There’s still plenty of pepperiness there though.
Finish: Quite long, peppery, drying and with a fair amount of alcoholic prickle.
There’s two stories with this intense Glengoyne – the first is that of intense spice – boldly delivered and belying the Young & Spritely SMWS profile which usually denotes a soft opening dram – this is far from that. The second story kicks off once a few drops of water has been added – laxer, silkier and much more fruit-driven. But make no mistake, the spices never fully recede. Overall, unusual, but all-in-all I rather like its gutsy style.