Glen Garioch 12yo White Port
Cadenhead’s Natural Strength Collection | 54.9% ABV
Score: 8/10
Something Special.
TL;DR
Another magic Geery, finished in a unique cask.
No Red Port Left
Since the turn of the year my rock hammer has been swinging at the whisky cliff in all directions. From Tomatin to Tullibardine, Aberfeldy to High Coast, Old Pulteney to Glen Elgin, I’ve been looking for gold nuggets in earnest.
One of the big surprises of this year has been a Jura Manzanilla by Cadenhead’s. It was so remarkable that since lucking out with that auction win, my eye has been more and more on Cadenhead’s releases. Every single bottle I’ve bought from Cadenhead’s has been engaging and interesting, but consistently good.
Likewise one of the more consistently brilliant distilleries I’ve been enjoying is Glen Garioch. From their core range Founder’s Reserve and 12 year old, through the indy bottlings aplenty, I’ve been seeking and destroying loads of the Geery. Granted there has been one or two bottlings that haven’t been out-and-out bangers, and there’s been a bit of a weird dud in there too, but overall every bottle of Glen Garioch I’ve bought has been consistently great.
Heading to Campbeltown I knew that my eyes would be seeking “sure things” like Glen Garioch, and when we popped into the shop before our first stop of the day, the Cadenhead’s Creations Blending Lab, there were two bottles that caught my eye on their wonderfully eclectic shelves.
One was a 10yo from their Original Collection, 46% and £50, that was so dark that I was actually put off. I recently reviewed the OB 15yo Sherry Cask and found it left me wanting, and after the multiple dark whisky let-downs that I’ve had this year, something that young and that dark screams “wet cask” to me. Sherry with a bit of whisky as company, so to speak.
I’m becoming quite scrutinising these days as to what a whisky might be before I buy it, mostly after the Tomatin affair, but from a lot of other waypoints in my path towards whisky enlightenment. In the past I might have seen that dark 10yo and thought, yeah, I fancy trying that. Why not? Dark fruits and spice? That’ll be nice. But the Tullibardine Red Cask ruby screen, where the 8yo spirit that should have been the colour of mirin was instead the colour of blood, disappointed me greatly. I’ve become wary of young dark whiskies as a result.
Recently on the Dramface podcast the technicalities of finishing whisky vs double-maturation was discussed, for what actually is a whisky that hasn’t remained in the same cask into which it was filled for the entire duration? If whisky becomes whisky at 3 years, then surely disgorging a cask into another cask and maturing it for more than 3 years means it becomes a double-maturation? Funnily enough, a recent review of Fib’s Glenglassaugh had been finished in Sauternes for 2 months.
The Berry Bros & Rudd bottling of Glen Garioch disappointed me because instead of the magic that typically bursts from the purple bready spirit, it was a sharp, eggy mess. It wasn’t the base maturation that did this, but a finish in first-fill Oloroso sherry for 2 years that tainted the beautiful Geery. I’ve become more wary of cask finishing as a result.
Review
Glen Garioch 12yo, Cadenhead’s Natural Strength Collection, 4 years in an ex-white port cask, 282 Bottles, 54.9% ABV
£55 Available Online
The other bottle in the Cadenhead’s shop that caught my eye was a 12yo Glen Garioch in the same guise as the Jura Manzanilla - the white labelled “Natural Strength” range, with the band of colour across the top depending on what it’s been matured in. For rum cask finish whisky it’s green. For sherry finishes it’s dark red.
For port, it’s a lighter magenta shade, and this Geery is finished in a White Port cask thus has one of the lighter bands. White port though?! I never knew there was such a thing, and that alone was enough to make me want to try it. But the wariness kicked in from all my previous let-downs and I was a bit unsure if I really wanted to spend £55 to be let down.
Which is why the new 20cl bottles that Cadenhead’s introduced in October 2023 are so handy - finding the White Port Geery on the shelf was easy, and for £19 it was a no-brainer to get one and try it. If I loved it, I could then plop for the bigger bottle. A safe way to try whiskies that you are just too unsure to go “all in” with.
Back at the boat my uncle, who had also picked up a 20cl bottle of this, opened his and immediately I knew I should’ve bought the bigger bottle. It was that typical purple magic with the bready, yeasty side of Geery that makes it so endearing. We had a good dram of it and decided it was a goodun.
Once home again I opened my 20cl bottle and within a day or two it was gone. I couldn’t put it down. So I just had to buy a bigger bottle.
Score: 8/10
Something Special.
TL;DR
Another magic Geery, finished in a unique cask
Nose
Wild greens - peppery brambles, bay leaf. Bread & butter pudding. Toasted oak, red cedar. Creamy. Jammy. Burnt sugar. Cola cubes. red. Raisins in porridge. Firework downwind. Jelly liquorice pink or blue things in the Allsorts bag. Salty chips.
Palate
Rich purple, malty magic. Tans & reds mingle. Salted caramel shortbread, buttery, biscuity, garibaldi. Hairspray. Bit of leafy, bit of damp twiggy. Fresh rainy woodland. Back to runny fudge enrobed cookie dough. Smelly bin.
With water the Geery character comes alive - choc chip bread & butter pudding oh my!
The Dregs
Well it’s another superb example of Glen Garioch and how that core character underpins more subtle shades of interest, if that spirit is handled with respect. Throw it in a duff cask and it’ll ruin a beautiful thing. Having had zero contact with white port I don’t really know what exactly the four years of maturation in this cask has done to the eight year old bourbs matured Geery, but as a characterful whisky, this is right on point.
I’ve tried young bourbs matured Geery in the past, through Carn Mor’s older labelled “Strictly Limited” bottling - a 6yo single cask that was really good, but slipped through the review net. Even with young Geery, the beauty is found in the changeability in the glass. It can waft from stinky bins to heavenly heather in the space of a few minutes, yet throughout all of the sips that sweet, buttery, yeasty character remains present and reassuring.
This white port, double-matured expression is wonderful. Throughout the liquorice and raisin laced porridge, the woody cedars, fireworks and salty chips, that creamy character weaves it’s way into my heart. It disappears rapidly from the glass at unwatered full speed, which is a testament to its lack of prickly heat or harsh sides to warn off repeat drams, but it also takes water well, lopping a bit of that sweeter red topping away to boost the gorgeous Geery way - chocolate chip bread & butter pudding anyone?
I could drink this all day and would, if it wasn’t for another Geery drawing my attention away. A superb grab in the Wee Toon, and how much richer I am for it. Brilliant!
Speaking of rich, this cost £55. I don’t need to tell you lot what that means in the grand scheme of whisky prices in 2024, and it is an instant buy at that price, for me. If you enjoy Glen Garioch as much as I do, and fancy a wee banger to boost your collection, then you know what to do.
I’d better get a backup bottle before it’s gone…
Score: 8/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DC
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