Peated Glenturrent – always something to look out for in my opinion. This example has been fully matured in a re-charred hogshead for 9 years.
Nose: Farmyard with cowpats and silage, hay lofts, sties and tarred felt roofing. Pork ribs and roasted chestnuts are joined by plasticine, playdoh, putty and oil paints, whilst maple smoked bacon and engine oils are given a punch of salinity. Dilution releases olive oil and olive brine whilst emphasising the smoke from burning logs and bitumen road surfacing.
Taste: A brighter palate than the nose suggested – spiced brown bread, yeasty funs and part-fermented beer sit with fatty bacon, red berries and chocolate ganache. Rubber tyre and gravel provide a mechanised feeling and are joined by clay, putty, leaf mulch and burning dustbins. Exceptionally easy drinking for the ABV – and perversely wonderful. Water adds browned biscuits, lime zest and chocolate shavings alongside more overt charred and still smouldering wood.
Finish: Long with chocolate, tarriness, felt and tarmac.
Make no mistake, this Glenturret is gloriously ‘out there’. It shouldn’t work – and if you’re reading these notes and wondering what’s going on – I hear ya. And yet, there’s little doubting that this is both balanced and highly evocative. A pertinacious, perverse joy. Highly recommended.