Glasgow 1770 Marsala Cask
Small Batch Series 2024 | 60.2% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
A delicious combination of sweet jammy berries and powerful meaty smoke
Running through my mind
Outside of whisky my main hobby that takes up a lot of my spare time is running.
Training six days a week alongside work and family commitments is a tough schedule, but it’s something I have always loved, especially since joining my local running club and forming new friendships; as with whisky, running can also be about the people sharing a mutual interest. There are only so many lonely miles I want to do and it’s great to share some of them with others.
I recently took part in the Chester marathon. A fabulous city local to me and my first attempt at a road marathon since my teenage years almost two decades ago. I trained hard with the ambitious end goal of trying to complete the race in under three hours. As I got to the start line knowing the months of training should stand me in good stead, I took my place as close as I could to the three hour pace makers near the front of the field. These are a pair of runners with such ability that they can comfortably run the race in that time whilst holding a badminton racquet aloft so anybody trying to run that time could follow them rather than worrying about the pacing themselves.
It all started fairly well and once I had navigated the early scrummage for space amongst a sea of legs I could relax into the six minute and fifty second per mile pace I needed to sustain to achieve my desired time. Several uneventful miles passed, until around the ten mile mark when things started to feel tough, much tougher than they should have been at that stage of the race. My legs were fatigued and my body felt drained of energy. I’d trained hard for this, it shouldn’t be a struggle until much later on. I had run better than this on a lonely Sunday morning training run. As we passed the eleventh mile it was clear my pace was slowing and those badminton racquets displaying the three hour goal time were getting further and further into the distance until I could no longer see them at all by mile twelve.
I was helpless to stop it and I immediately felt despondent. I tried to give myself a stern talking to internally, but at that moment I wanted to be anywhere else other than fifteen miles from the finish line. If only I could have forgotten to set my alarm that morning I could have been at home right now. A man at the roadside holding aloft a sign with the words ‘You paid to do this!’ only exacerbating that feeling.
Running can be just as expensive a hobby as whisky and I could have bought a nice bottle of something for the marathon entry price, and several for the cost of the carbon plated super-shoes. Those are the kind of things that were going through my head at the time.
The subsequent miles were slow and arduous and for some of that time I was trying to figure out what had caused such a capitulation. Spectators watching from the side of the road and fellow runners who overtook me shouted motivating words in an attempt to encourage me to keep going, but no words would make my body perform any better that day. It felt like I had failed.
When you’re running there is plenty of time for the mind to wander and one of the thoughts that crossed my mind was whether whisky had played a part.
I avoided drinking anything for a few days leading up to the race, but could the drinking of alcohol be having a negative effect on my body? Many athletes are teetotal for a reason. Could I have a passion for whisky and running at the same time? The two don’t really go hand in hand.
The conclusion I have come to is that drinking alcohol might have a negative effect on my running, but if that is the case then it is something I am willing to accept. I am cautious not to overdo it and try to have a few dry days each week, but I am not a professional athlete and both hobbies give me a lot of joy and I wouldn’t want to lose either from my life.
If it means my times are a little slower than they could be then I can come to terms with that. It wasn’t the reason I ran quite so badly that morning, but it’s never going to aid my performance. I also consume foods I shouldn’t eat, rarely eat my five a day and don’t always get as much sleep as I need. Life is short and doing what makes you happy certainly has mental health benefits. There’s even an argument for moderate consumption of high strength alcohol having physical health benefits. How often do we see a centenarian attributing their long life to partaking in a dram each evening?
Once that internal dialogue was over I knuckled down to the task of getting to the end of the race. Giving up wasn’t really an option. I was in the middle of the Cheshire countryside and my wife and daughter were waiting for me at the finish back in the city. I struggled through the remaining miles and crossed over the line, my body in tatters but with a huge sense of relief that it was all over, even if I was half an hour later than I had planned. For a few days afterwards, with every muscle in my body aching, I swore I would never attempt the distance again and stick to the shorter stuff, but just like a bottle of whisky you haven’t quite gelled with, there is a sense of wanting to go back in and give it another go.
There’s unfinished business. Maybe it won’t be as bad next time?
Review
Glasgow 1770, Small Batch Series, Marsala Cask Matured, 7yo, 60.2% ABV
£59 and still available
This release comes from Glasgow’s peated spirit that has been fully matured in three sister Marsala wine casks for seven years between August 2017 to September 2024. A total of 860 bottles were produced at 60.2% ABV.
Thanks to Glasgow distillery who offered this bottle to Wally, who offered it out to the writers for a no obligation Dramface review.
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
A delicious combination of sweet jammy berries and powerful meaty smoke
Nose
Intense smoked bacon and sweet red berry jam leap out of the glass. Earthy, heathery peat that has a hint of the medicinal, with toffee, farmyard aromas, espresso coffee and curry leaf.
Palate
There’s an earthiness on the palate that was present, but more muted on the nose. The smoked meats and sweet jammy red berries are also there in spades along with coffee, tobacco and salted toffee. The smoke is powerful and ashen, but with a medicinal edge. Sweet jammy fruits continue throughout and balance out bitter notes of oak and liquorice that creep in during the development. The long lasting finish introduces mint imperials, drying oak and cream amongst the smoke and berries.
The Dregs
The powerful peated spirit and the sweet berry fruits coming from the wine cask form the headline notes, and if that’s your thing you are going to really enjoy this. As is often the case, sweet and peat works tremendously well. It’s jam packed with flavour and very moreish. It drinks perfectly well at full strength despite its youth, but a drop of water helps bring out even more.
As well as being delicious, the £59 price tag of these small batch releases is outstanding. This Marsala release comes from a marriage of three casks, but the Islay and Madeira casks reviewed by Dougie, Drummond and Wally are both single casks.
Which other distillery is offering high strength single cask or small batches at that level of value? You can expect to pay much closer to the £100 mark from other distilleries and the fact Glasgow haven’t felt the need to follow suit says to me there is no reason why most others should charge such a premium.
According to multiple sources the distillery has the capacity to produce around 400,000 litres per year, but they’re actually producing a little over half of that, so we aren’t talking large-scale. Well done Glasgow. Through strategies such as these, it finds itself comfortably in the target zone of many whisky enthusiasts in 2024, and that is only set to grow.
I see someone, cantering along, well within their comfort zone, badminton racquet held high, cajoling everyone to follow along. I’m up for a little more of that.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. RT
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