Glasgow 1770 Single Malt (2019 Release)

Thanks to the wise one @cascode for this dram. Here we have an entry from Glasgow distillery that brought whisky production back to the Dear Green Place for the first time in over 100 years. Production is from two copper pot stills called Tara and Mhairi using Scottish barley and the waters of Loch Katrine 40 miles north of the city. This release was matured in first fill bourbon casks and finished in virgin white oak. N: Immediately juicy and sweetly tropical with smacks of banana bread. The fruit forward nose is joined by malty biscuits and fragrant perfumed wood. Fresh and bright with hints of freshly mown green grass. I’m reminded of British summer time and garden parties. Very enjoyable here. P: Slightly tannic to creamy arrival with a sweet buzz and rich mouthfeel. Toffee tones abound here, butterscotch, brown sugar, and vanilla compete with a little wood spice and fresh fruity sweetness and the richness of dried fruits. Successive sips bring honey and malt back to the forefront. F: Short. Woodiness and maybe some marmalade bitterness. Rich, but ultimately fades too quickly to leave a lasting impression. I was surprised by this. A young whisky, yes; but it’s punching hard. You cannot understate the richness and fullness that is delivered but perhaps the downside is a simple 1-2 delivery that doesn’t get going much past that initial contact. There are many aspects that made me think of Arran, just not quite so well accomplished, yet at a slightly lower price point. I think good things are still to come from Glasgow 1770. Distiller whisky taste #160 [Pictured here with a 1.16 billion year old Kakortokite from the Llimaussaq Igneous Complex of southwest Greenland. This rock is part of a layered magmatic sequence that formed from fractional crystallisation of a giant magma chamber and is one of the most unique and rare rock types on Earth. Three principal minerals make this beauty up: pink eudialyte, black arfvedsonite, and white nepheline.]

Nose: Tinned fruit salad, vanilla essence, baked banana (SO MUCH baked banana), aromatic wood (sandalwood, cedarwood). A rich, seductive and voluptuous nose but it's so intensely sweet and banana heavy that it hovers one step away from being a joke. Palate: Luscious arrival brimming with sweet preserved fruits in syrup, clotted cream , mascarpone, butterscotch sauce and honey – it’s like drinking a fruit sundae or a banana split! There is a little spicy heat in the later development and a flavour like a creamy lambic beer. The mouthfeel is creamy and rich. Again, it's so close to the edge of being a caricature it's not funny. Finish: Medium/short. Sweet cereal and fruity flavours that fade fairly quickly, but it’s not lacking in length. This has an exceptionally rich and fruit-dominant profile that suggests a very long fermentation driven into late lactobacillic interaction, and the use of very lively virgin white oak casks. The current releases of this whisky are called “The Original” and the label bears the words “fresh and fruity” so I assume it still has the same overall profile. It does show its youth and in comparison with mature single malts it could be called simplistic, but at the asking price it competes against several fine blended scotches and blended malts and represents good value. I think you would have to be very mean spirited to hate this. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

An elegant, Single Malt Scotch Whisky by Glasgow Distillery in Glasgow, Scotland handcrafted in copper pot stills (named Tara & Mhairi), combining Scottish barley with water from Lock Katrine, & double-wood aging — 1st in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks, then finishing in virgin white oak. It has an aromatic birth with notes of apricot, pineapple, toffee, pear, dried dark fruits, tropical fruits, hints of biscuit, oak, barley & cut grass; while a rich & spicy life adds notes of butterscotch, burnt brown sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, dried fruits, marzipan, honey & buttery shortbread; that led to a thick & warm death of medium length with hints of orange marmalade, nutmeg, wood & spice. May 2020 / September 2022

White balsamic on the nose. Strong oak and banana taffy on the palate. It sort of wandered off the path towards the end and I don’t think it made it to the end of the hike. With a touch of water the banana taffy disappears and the oak really comes through. Picked up some cinnamon tree bark on that hike.

Nose: vanilla, cinnamon, sandalwood. Citrus. Malt sweetness. Palate: sweet, starts neutral then gets a bit rough/spiky. Finish: spices then some interesting bitter note, like after drinking beer. Cinnamon.

smoky pear off the top, another lovely, smoky, dry and lovely finish. Great.