Glenwyvis 2019
Batch 01 Official Release | 46.5% ABV
Young whisky sets the bar
It’s been said time and again: if you’re a malt head, you’re living in the golden age of whisky. What we’re witnessing today is something that literally comes around just once every century or so. The question is: how should we be acknowledging it?
With more than 40 new distilleries seeing the light of day in the past 10 - 15 years in Scotland alone, we’ve been given front-row seats to the show, as we are arguably the first group of people ever who are in a position to witness, try and taste first-hand how this whole new wave of distilleries are coming along and experience their evolution.
There have been previous booms in the past, but never before in the history of (licensed) distilling has single malt been produced for the sake of single malt in the way it’s made today, with a determined focus on quality. And the people who are making it are backed by a far better understanding, knowledge and appreciation of how all the different parts of the process come into play – from grain varieties to yeast strains, fermentation, distillation and maturation. It truly is a wonderful time to be a whisky geek.
Mind you, these front row tickets seem to become increasingly expensive. We understand and appreciate how a new distillery simply cannot rely on a depth of well matured stock and how they have to factor in both a very significant start-up and overhead cost in those earlier years. Building a distillery and getting it up and running requires millions of pounds, so it’s understandable they release their earlier batches at a relatively high price tag - £50 to £65 are not exceptional these days for three, four and five year old whisky coming from young distilleries.
It’s equally understandable how any whisky enthusiast would look at these prices and decide to spend their money elsewhere. After all, why would you pay around £60 for a four year old product when for the same money you could get a 15 year old whisky elsewhere?
When we buy these younger whiskies from new distilleries, it’s because we ‘re curious about what they’re doing. We embrace and welcome the idea they’re the new kids in town and want to support them when they’re doing it right - not just hoping, but also relying on the fact they’ll evolve and blossom. We appreciate that we can’t simply rave about a whole renaissance happening right in front of our eyes if we’re not invested in it ourselves.
If we’d all reason with our wallets, it would be a very short-lived thing. But the term is ‘whisky enthusiasts’, rather than ‘whisky cynics’, after all. What is cynical though, as this is how some companies and distilleries who’ve been around for a bit longer, use that same reasoning to hike up the prices for their own products. If we’re willing to pay a premium for a sub-six year old whisky, then surely we won’t mind paying £80, £90 or even £100 for a 12 year old, right?
Wrong. As said, we understand and appreciate why a new distillery simply can’t release those first, second and even third and fourth releases for £35 or £40, but it’s another thing altogether when we see a well-established brand bumping up their prices by 30 to 40% as a consequence of this.
Review
Glenwyvis 2019-2023 Batch 1, 68% bourbon casks, 17% wine casks (red wine, muscatel and marsala), 15% refill whisky casks, 12,000 bottles, 46.5% ABV
£60 widely available (£32 paid on auction)
It’s a good thing I don’t really suffer from FOMO. I might miss out on plenty of exciting new releases, but even if I tried to keep up with as little as 5% of what’s happening in the whisky world today, I’d end up broke and divorced.
With around 60 bottles in my cabinet at any given moment, I feel as if my whisky collection is reasonable and - equally important - manageable. It definitely gives me plenty of options to find a suitable sipper to whatever it is I’m in the mood for, and it ensures that, bear the occasional dud or ‘the one that gets nurtured’, bottles are getting finished anywhere between a few months to a year after they’re opened.
Rather than actively chasing particular bottles, I’m usually more than happy to kick back and see whatever it is that finds its way to me. It doesn’t mean I’m not curious, because I am, but I’m also a bit of an opportunist when it comes to buying whisky.
In this particular case, I saw this bottle on an auction site. Immediately thinking it would make a great excuse to review it for Dramface, I tracked it and bagged it for the very reasonable sum of €37 – which mounted up to just short of what it would’ve cost me at retail after the added fees and shipping.
Visually, I like the presentation of this whisky: a dumpy style bottle with a sober, no nonsense and factual approach to labelling, while the cardboard box tells us the story behind the community owned Glenwyvis distillery, neatly pointing out the ecological approach they take to whisky making in the process.
Nose
Gently astringent and farmyard-like, with notes of wet grass and hay, turning more floral over time. A sour-sweetness with subtle elements of white fruits, lemon sherbet and vanilla. The nose also suggests a dense, oily like texture.
Palate
A spirit-forward character, as was to be expected from a whisky just shy of four years old, primarily matured in ex-bourbon casks. Grassy and even some paper notes. Peppery with white fruits while mid-palate and mid-tongue a fruity sweetness emerges from grapes and some subtle berries. Almost immediately afterwards there’s an increasing dryness which lingers on in a surprisingly long, soft peppery finish.
The Dregs
I enjoy the spirit-driven character of this whisky. With winter knocking at the door, it might not be my go-to sipper for the months to come, but I’m sure it’ll make regular appearances in my glass when temperatures mellow out again. I’m also certain many won’t find much value in these kind of releases because it’s very young, some will even argue that it’s too young and underaged.
So, yes, a price tag of £60 is asking us to be indulgent and lenient. However, Glenwyvis and many other 21st century distilleries, are leading the way. They’re focussing on what they have to offer and what their product can deliver, while taking their customer base seriously by providing them with plenty of information. On the Glenwyvis website you’ll stumble upon all you could hope to find about this whisky: all the way from the grain (concerto and laureate from the highlands, 2018 crop) to the water source, the yeast strain (Pinnacle Distillers Compressed Yeast (MG+), the fermentation time (120 hours), cut points, filling strength and the provenance of the casks. Take all of that, and compare it to whatever it is that for instance Highland Park is doing with its Viking Provenance stories and ask yourself where the real value lies.
I’m not suggesting that disclosing all this information is what convinced me that it’s worth a £60 price tag, but what it does convince me of is that Glenwyvis is doing things the right way and that we should allow them the time to take things further, improving their product batch after batch. Is a 5/10 score harsh or unfair? Based on what this whisky has to offer, I think it’s fair. I could bump it up a point for being as transparent as they are or subtract a point for asking £60 for a bottle of very young whisky – it all depends on your take on things.
For me, for now, I’ll stick to my guns.
Score: 5/10
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