McClelland's Highland single malt whisky

Information

Name: McClelland's Highland
Distillery: McClelland's (Morrison-Bowmore)
Type: Single malt whisky

Age: NAS

Strength: 40%

 

This is an interesting one, and one which I have been wanting to taste for a while because McClelland's is a single malt range produced by Morrison-Bowmore to represent the Highland, Speyside, Lowland and Islay regions. Morrison-Bowmore happen to own three distilleries who cover three of those areas, and their only distillery in the Highland region is my favourite Glen Garioch.

 

 

 

Nose: Bright and fresh. Fruity and estery. The trademark Glen Garioch pear notes for me are very distinct here. Pear Drops and Tinned Pears with vanilla ice cream. Tinned fruit salad, tangerine, lemon, and grapefruit. Something younger and solvent like there as well. Very malty - mash tuns and still rooms. You can smell the distillery itself oozing out of this. Some feinty notes of candlewax and honey. The wood influence is quite minimal here and just sitting to the background. Soft toffee, Mr Kipling's lemon sponge cakes.

 

Palate: Smooth, bright and fruity. Pear, grapefruit and tangerine againe. Sweet and malty, biscuity like buttery shortbread fingers.

 

Finish: Shortish. Malty and biscuity. 

 

Comments: Young but delightful.

Glen Garioch Virgin Oak

Information

Distillery: Glen Garioch
Bottling: Distillery Bottling
Age: NAS
Strength: 48%
Cask: Virgin North American Oak.
Being a big Glen Garioch fan I had heard about this in the pipeline quite a while ago and have been patiently been tapping my feet waiting on it being released.

Not many single malts are put into virgin north american oak, as the delicate malt can be quickly drowned out by the strong and harsh flavours which come from the wood, and of course choosing casks which have previously been used for bourbon (or sherry) as the wood impact will be much less.

I like to think Glen Garioch are being pretty progressive at present with trying some different things out rather than sticking with the old tired age statements, where consistency means less room for experimentation.

Nose: Right on the tail of my previous tasting of a Glen Moray in a freshly toasted cask, I immediately think my nose is going to get a blast of oak but I am completely wrong. Lots of fruit and strong. Rich, cooked and caramelised with orange marmalade, apricot jam and sweet berrys which reminds me of Ribena and Vimto. That syrupy note continues and reminds me of being off sick from school and getting Orange Lucozade and sweet Calpol medicine. The orange continues into the sweet shop and gives me the tang and mouthwatering melting of Terry's Chocolate Orange. Twix bars with chewy caramel, milk chocolate and a biscuit base.

Palate: The oak hits first, but only for a second and is quickly backed up by the fruit. Chocolate, caramal and butterscotch. Medium body.

Finish: Medium-Long finish which is warm and relaxing with a autumnal presence. Creamy and spicy with that chocolate orange lingering on.

This is nice, and it is nice to see Morrison-Bowmore's master blender Rachel Barrie willing to try something new, however I do wish it had been put out at natural strength like the Vintage releases though but maybe it needed to be lower strength to show off the malt as in all honesty I probably wouln't have added water anyway. I rarely do.