Friday 22 November 2013

Glen Grant Major's Reserve

 
Spirit Name:
Spirit Type:

Glen Grant "Major's Reserve"
Single malt
Score:

ABV:
40%
Region:
Speyside, Scotland
Body:
Medium 
Intensity:
Medium 
Texture:
Smooth
Balance:
Good
Best served:

Mixed
Theme(s):
Bitter, spicy, peppery, immature, mushroom, wet cardboard, bark, nutmeg, cocoa, dried apricot, burnt toffee 
Summary:
Tainted with immaturity, this whisky struck me as something that would be a decent mixer or perfect from grandma's top secret biscuit (biscotti in my case) recipe - not a sipping whisky in my view.

Blind tasting notes:
Nose: Zesty lemon meringue with shavings of citrus peel and cereal notes hit the nose with peppery papaya. A mild gust of immature spirit taints the nose a little. Wet cardboard and mushrooms develop as the whisky rests. Now that’s an old memory – packing boxes of mushrooms in the supermarket fridges while I was an undergraduate! There’s something fungal about this whisky, immature but not necessarily youthful because it is a tad lethargic.

Taste: Immediately bitter and spicy, that peppery fungal note on the nose excites the taste buds but then fizzles off leaving wet bark, nutmeg, cocoa and dense burnt toffee. There is not much else that resembles anything in nature, except the bitter bite of alcohol. This is young whisky in my opinion, cheap whisky.

Finish: Burnt sugars linger as intensifying spiciness sweeps away whatever fruit softness began to develop on the palate – just as that fruit (dried apricot etc) develops, it is swept away by the spiciness which leaves a dry wood finish.

Would I want another dram of this? No. 
Likes:
Price 
Dislikes:
The general character struck me as immature and, well, "cheapish"
Price:
$40 (Aus)


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