12yo, Portsoy & Sandend Official Releases | Various ABV

Three new bottlings

Rebrands are rarely well met by customers; almost nobody likes change for change’s sake, but there are occasions and contexts that merit it. So how has Brown-Forman gone with the rebranding and restructuring of the Glenglassaugh core expressions? Let’s dig in.

Brown-Forman, typically speaking, seems to be on many enthusiasts’ watch lists. After the sale of Glendronach, Benriach and Glenglassaugh from Billy Walker, a man generally adored by sherry-bomb fans the world over, there was always going to be a degree of speculation about how the new crew handled stocks and production. I do feel a little bad for them in this regard; following up from Walker was always going to be a monolithic effort, especially given that they had to know he would carry many fans and bottle sales with him to whatever his next project was; Glenallachie seems to be doing all right.

Brown-Forman has certainly fuelled the sceptics’ fire a few times since the acquisition. The Glendronach incident was, no matter the cause, a fair old debacle, and there are segments of the market that still haven’t recovered or forgiven it yet. Personally, I remain indifferent to the whole topic; if the only perception of quality deterioration happens after it’s announced, I think it’s pretty hard to criticise the intrinsic quality of the product. That said, I can understand, if only from an objective view, a sense of violated trust from the distillery’s more ardent devotees. The handling of pricing after Glendronach’s commercial success has also left many bitter, and on that count I wholeheartedly agree .

The Benriach rebrand was an interesting one; it could be argued their existing packaging and line-up had a lot of merit, so altering things as drastically as they were could be viewed as slightly odd. That said, I think it signaled something of a new era of blending from the prestigious Dr Rachel Barrie, so on those grounds alone I believe there’s a degree of justification. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I’m a big fan of Dr Barrie, not least of all for bringing some serious academic chemist credentials to the table, along with all their industry experience and particularly a stellar whisky-creation back catalogue.

The other significant consideration is the Benriach rebrand helped signal the new Brown-Forman era of whisky releases; starting with Glendronach probably would have been too much too soon, though I’m surprised they didn’t dip their toes in the water using Glenglassaugh first. Perhaps doing as much while the distillate was still so immature would have created more problems than it solved; you and I will probably never know unless we corner some business executives in a dark alley. So, what of the Glenglassaugh rebrand now it’s here?

Let’s get the visuals out of the way first. While I generally have a fairly poor sense of taste for aesthetics, the bottle design is solid. The label, while giving us less information than we would like (i.e. filtration and colour declarations), the label is a reasonable size, giving nicely legible text without obscuring any more of the bottle’s surface area than necessary. This and the clear glass mean we get a nice indication of the colour - again, it would be better if we knew it was all natural - and bottle shape.

Speaking of which, the slightly recessed Glenglassaugh mark around ⅔ up the bottle is tasteful, if a perhaps a slightly questionable appropriation of packaging funds, and the same could be said for the wavy and helical glasswork from about ½ way up through to the neck. Still; it looks good and feels nice in the hand.

As for the presentation of the liquid itself, I think it’s a bit shambolic. Despite the evolution of the distillery and its liquid, two of the three new core bottles remain NAS releases. So some of the liquid is young, and Brown-Forman being the fairly enormous company that they are, clearly assigning numbers to such things is still a bit too progressive; fine. What’s a little more concerning is the lack of filtration and colouring declarations across all three of the bottlings, but especially so in the case of the 12 year old, which is clearly the darkest of the lot, as well as the only one below that magical 46% ABV mark.

Practically speaking, they may have chosen not to chill filter any of these including the 12. If I had to make an educated guess based on the approach taken with Glendronach though, I assume the choice not to declare a lack of filtration is meant to give flexibility in the use thereof, depending on the bottling hall conditions, as well as batch variation. Again, this is pure speculation, past performance being no indication of future outcomes and all that.

DISCLAIMER
These bottles were supplied to the liquor retailer I work for as tasting stock for staff, and for a virtual industry tasting with Brown-Forman’s global brand ambassador Stewart Buchanan. I’ve briefly retained these bottles on loan from the store for this review, hence the lack of declaration in the price sections. There’s no obligation between myself, the store, the distributors or Brown-Forman regarding the content of the following reviews, as is hopefully readily apparent from my bluntness. The bottles will now go back to the store for the other staff and the general public to try.

Review 1/3

Glenglassaugh Sandend, Official release, 50.5% ABV
£54 rrp generally available.

The first NAS off the block. Based on the specs and write up, this seems like there should be little to take issue with, so long as the sherry cask components are clean and/or restrained.

Nose

Very fresh; good clean ale malt grist, some crushed almonds, mild juicy orchard fruits (peach, ripe pear, red apple) plus trace banana and sweet florals geared toward lilies. The American oak supports, leading first with vanillins, followed by soft butterscotch, desiccated coconut, a hint of milk bottle lolly and some mild baking spice mix. First and foremost though is that malt, providing a very nice anchor for the other notes to pivot upon.

Palate

Much the same; the ABV is pretty well balanced for the sip such that there’s no hedonistic need for water. The florals here are slightly more accentuated, evolving into some perfumed top notes mingled with delicate manuka honey, all still underpinned by that malt and some buttery shortbread biscuit. Adding water (approx 3% ABV dilution) bolsters the sweeter oak notes, as well as lifting the peachy/banana fruitiness a touch.

The Dregs

Had someone poured this for me blind, I probably would have guessed something in the realms of a moderately young (10ish) Glen Grant out of dominantly ex-bourbon casks. Perhaps not the most complex dram, but what’s there is very clean and enjoyable. Allegedly this release comes from a blend of ex-bourbon, sherry and manzanilla casks (as if manzanilla weren’t sherry), but honestly I get little of anything organoleptically that would indicate as much, aside maybe from the slight almond notes. Whether that’s more a reflection of my mediocre palate or Dr Barrie’s deft blending, I can’t say. I’m inclined to the latter.

As for the value, it’s a touch steep, especially when compared to the Evolution bottling that it so closely resembles, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable in the current whisky market. As for the palate, there’s nothing coastal at play, and certainly no salt.

Score: 5/10

Review 2/3

Glenglassaugh 12yo, Official release, 45% ABV
~£50 rrp generally available.

The colour may indicate where we stand regarding cask influence, but without a colouring declaration on the bottle, perhaps not. Based solely on reading the notes from the website, this bottling inspires the most trepidation, but I’ll do my level best to stow those uneasy feelings in the name of attempted objectivity.

Nose

The sherry and red wine casks forge the path here. Some definite cask sulphur geared toward alliums, mild vulcanised rubber and cruciferous vegetables, though not completely obstructing the other aromas. There’s a sense of vinous fruits, presumably from the red wine, and dried red berries. The sherry casks are felt with some singed golden syrup and a little Chinese 5 spice, while a hint of the malt can be detected, but compared to the Sandend it’s a slog to pick it out.

Palate

More of the same on the palate, and just as I had feared there’s some vinous/rancio laden notes from the sherry and wine casks that really rub me the wrong way. The sulphur is no more restrained either, adding to the turmoil. The finish is slightly redeeming, showing a bit more of that fruit/malt/spice mix from the nose, and there’s even a fun little cherry lolly/Christmas fruit mince lift that comes after the swallow. But the front 80% of the palate is pretty tough.

The Dregs

I’m sure there are many that will find this more to their taste, however this doesn’t gel with my palate and preferences. Given the slightly questionable presentation, this one misses the mark. I think this bottling had more potential to bring a first core age statement to the brand, and whether it was a marketing department issue, a production target that drifted out of the enthusiast domain or some other amalgam of corporate disconnection, this isn’t the release I had hoped for. Again, nothing coastal.

Score: 3/10

Review 3/3

Glenglassaugh Portsoy, Official release, 49.1% ABV
~£59 rrp generally available.

Finally the peated one. The sherry and port casks in combination with a moderate colour, despite the NAS, had me a bit concerned there may be some of the same issues as in the 12, but I hold out hope against all odds there’s a bit more tidiness at play.

Nose

A savoury nose that’s much cleaner than the 12, despite the fortified casks in the mix. Very typical of what I presumes to be Highland peat; warm wood smoke with a moderate herbal/peppery/lemon terpenic undertone, touches of BBQ char and some hot ashes. The port and sherry casks mingle with the smoke to induce something a little meaty/bacon with peripheral tinges of stewed plums, though again there’s nothing like the sulphur of the 12. Pleasingly, after a healthy breathe in the glass, a little tropical fruit can be felt along with the malt; something like a Belgian blonde ale or tripel.

Palate

This is pretty good. The fortified casks are a touch more present here, but as with the nose they’re clean and well integrated, managing a nice sweet-smoke-savoury balance. More stewed fruits with perhaps a touch of blackcurrant thiols, soy/plum glazed pork on the BBQ, more ash and char, zested lemon, herbes de Provence, a little cinnamon and gentle clove. There’s a mild degree of rancio, but I don’t even mind it in the broader context of flavours here. Neither the peat or fortified casks are overbearing, and while the maltiness is least on display of the three, the Belgian ale thread runs through the mid-palate with a brief yet pleasing flash of mango.

The Dregs

This one reminds me most of something like a well-presented Ardmore, or perhaps even a cleaner, moderately peated Benromach. While the peat brings more to the table for me than the other two, it’s really the overall composition and deft cask incorporation that elevates this in my eyes. Avoiding the sulphur and overt rancio issues of the 12, the cask derived fruits marry nicely with the savoury smoke, and the ABV sits quite nicely for the overall experience too. I did play with water, but generally preferred things at the bottle strength. A cask strength version might do even better in that regard, but no point in quibbling over such details. A solid release and though the price niggles a little for a NAS, it’s again within the realms of expectation given the current market. Score unchanged by value. Once more, nothing coastal.

Score: 6/10

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. TK

Other opinions on these:

Sandend
Whiskybase
WhiskyJason (video)

12yo
Whiskybase
WhiskyJason (video)

Portsoy
Whiskybase
WhiskyJason (video)

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