Glengoyne 21yo
Official Bottling | 43% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very good indeed.
TL;DR
The perfect Christmas dram
A wonderful experience, yet there’s a bit of a (proverbial) bitter aftertaste
I often find myself on the fence when it comes to Christmas.
On the one hand, I can't help but feel there’s this whole artificial, borderline fake cheerfulness happening all around me, going hand in hand with a decadent unbridled consumerism I’m not at all comfortable with.
People crowding together to spend a good deal of time and even more money roaming shopping malls and city centres the world over, with the same 10 or so mind-numbingly annoying Christmas songs on endless repeat, the air filled with the combined smell of luxurious perfumes, mulled wine and bratwurst is pretty close to what I consider hell must look like.
High streets and stores packed to the brim with people dragging around shopping bags containing a month’ s salary worth of gifts, all rushed for time and therefore utterly stressed, turns people into rude and impolite monsters. It’s not a pretty sight and I try and stay clear of it all, but often fail miserably in the attempt.
On the other hand, I value the feeling of togetherness, and, as I grow older, I find myself enjoying the prospect of spending some quality time with loved ones - pausing for a while to appreciate and cherish what you have with friends and family. The Christmas ‘spirit’ so to speak. Being a middle-aged man, I’d like to think this rather more positive aspect of Christmas is starting to get the upper hand, putting the consumerism aspect of it all in the context of a ‘necessary evil’, an unwanted side-effect if you will.
I also like to think my love of whisky has played a part when it comes to appreciating the holiday season. More specifically, the prospect of ending a wonderful Christmas dinner in the company of my family with a special occasion dram feels like putting the cherry on the cake. I’m sure there are a few of you who have one or two of these ‘special occasion’ whiskies, cognacs or whatever stashed away and I feel the end of one year and the prospect of another is worthy of pulling out these bottles. They’re not necessarily expensive bottles: they can also be somewhat rare or harder to find, although in my case most of them are probably pushing the boundaries of what I’m comfortable with in terms of price.
Today’s whisky used to be affordable, but has started to become expensive, not to say elusive in recent times. More on that later. After Tyree’s recent encounter with Glengoyne 10 (which I’ve never tried, so can’t comment on his unfortunate experiences), perhaps it’s time to give the valley of the geese another chance.
Review
Glengoyne 21yo, official release, natural colour, 43% ABV
£80 paid, now around £150+ but widely available
Nose
Rich, full, voluptuous, warming and soft. Christmas cake in a glass with raisins, sultanas, chocolate, toffee, tropical wood, clove, cinnamon, bread pudding and stove apples. Take your time, take plenty of time even, because it’s an absolute treat.
Palate
Equally rich and warming with an oily and viscous mouthfeel. Sultanas, toffee, treacle, chocolate and dark roast coffee. Notes of dark fruitcake and charred wood. In the back, those dried fruits and spices get the company of a mellow nuttiness. The finish is long and lingering. Warm, with notes of spices, dried fruit and wood that keep hanging around for minutes after sipping. So rich, yet also very elegant and approachable and with an excellent balance.
The Dregs
There’s very little to argue about here in terms of quality. Even the 43% ABV suits the profile of this whisky well. A ‘treat yourself’ whisky in my book. Even more so, as this has become quite expensive in recent years. I bought my bottle three and a half years ago for about £80, which in hindsight was a bit of a steal, as even back then it tended to sell between £90-£100. That said, I can't help but feel frustrated and even a bit angry about where owners Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd have taken both Glengoyne and Tamdhu. I don’t feel it’s a coincidence that ever since they bought Rosebank (or rather, the rights to the name) a lot of what now comes out of Glengoyne and Tamdhu has suffered from ‘premiumisation’. They’ve taken some, but not all, of their whisky out of our reach in an attempt to place it in the premium market and I’m not convinced it’ll pay off.
On a micro economic level: having to pay £100-£120 for a very good 21 year old whisky is acceptable and I might have bought one or two replacement bottles for that price, but seeing what the prices are today, I’ll be looking to spend my money elsewhere. It’s overly simplistic, but extrapolate that a few 1000 times over and you can see where it might start to become problematic on a larger economic scale. I don’t know who thought it would be in the best interest for Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd to start following in Macallan’s footsteps, but bumping up the prices of your higher age stated whiskies and limited releases by 20% or even more every year for the last four years or so, might prove to be a critical error in the long run.
I appreciate the increasing production costs have an impact on prices, but the fact you’re basically expecting your customers to pay for rebuilding Rosebank by bleeding them dry for your other whiskies is something that won’t go by unnoticed.
On a side note: while we may revel in the prospect of having a legendary distillery brought back to life, it still remains to be seen whether 21st century Rosebank will hold up to some of the 20th century stuff, as they are in fact building a new distillery rather than rebuilding the old one – even if they are going through great lengths replicating the old Rosebank stills. On top of that, I feel whatever does come out of the new Rosebank might well be out of many people’s reach as it will undoubtedly be very ‘collectible’ and prices will be set accordingly.
I’m sure the whisky they’ll produce will be quality, but seeing which road Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd has chosen to follow, you can bet they’ll be looking to get a return on investment by cashing in on the reputation and the Rosebank name. I really hope I’ll be proved wrong on this, but I’m not getting my hopes up. You can go full Diageo on some people some of the time, but you can’t go full Diageo on all of the people all of the time.
It pains me to have to write in a bit of a rant, as it shifts the focus of attention away from this lovely whisky. Possibly the fact it’s now somewhere in the region of £150 or more (£185 in the distillery shop), makes me cherish what I have even more. So let’s recap with what counts at heart: beauty, richness, depth and elegance. All in one bottle.
Score: 7/10 EA
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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