Bought: Bartels Whisky, 8th December 2015
Ratings:
84/100 – Whiskybase (from 1 member vote)
Bartels Whisky tempted me yet again with another great offer on this Glentauchers 18yo, reduced to £40 in a pre-Christmas sale. This independent bottler has a habit of doing that, and a cask-strength, age statement bottle for 40 notes is hard to beat these days. If this is something that interests you then you can follow updates on Bartels’ Facebook page here.
I must admit that Glentauchers is one of those Speyside distilleries I tend to forget about. It’s like the member of a boy band, the one on the left, with the hair and the teeth that did a bit of dancing and backing vocals. You remember him don’t you? In my book about distilleries, the section under ‘Points of Special Interest’ for Glentauchers mentions the co-founder, James Buchanan, created a blend that he later registered as the ‘Black and White’ brand. That’s about as fascinating as it gets.
It’s just as well we’re drinking whisky not history and it’s in the glass that Glentauchers becomes memorable. The Whisky Bible 2016 lists 16 different bottlings with 8, exactly half, scoring over 90/100. The house style is light-bodied, fruity, fragrant, nutty, floral and malt. The casks are ex-bourbon and the malt is unpeated. Any time I spy ‘fruit’ and ‘nut’ in the tasting notes it gets me reaching for some dark chocolate to accompany the whisky. Having only spent £40 I think I can afford a couple of bars!
Tasting notes left on Whiskybase:
Nose: Fresh, summery nose on young apples, vanilla, freshly cut grass, mint and lemon. Some breakfast cereals. Yes, Kellogg’s original corn flakes! The second whiff adds some unripe banana.
Taste: The body might have been a bit bigger, but it tastes nice. Fruity (more of the same) and feisty. Think pepper, ginger and a pinch of cinnamon.
Finish: Medium long finish on apple, vanilla and pepper.
Here’s ‘The Good Dram Show’ on You Tube with their review of this Glentauchers, the first of a series of 6 single malts from Bartels Whisky (Sept 2015):
Whisky Den 