Glenkinchie Distillers Edition

Getting back to my sample pile, I picked up a peated Glenturret...no not today, Copper Dog?...not in the mood for a bourbon. Ah, Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition looks good. A nice Lowland malt is what tonight calls for. I reviewed the 12 a while back and I remember enjoying it. Let’s see what a year in Amontillado sherry casks can do. Like the 12, this is bottled at 43%, is chill filtered and has colorant added making this a solid amber. The nose has very nice, if not somewhat subdued, sherry. Apples, raisins, vanilla and sherry soaked oak. Lots of caramel and toffee, then the Amontillado sherry really starts to come through with a little more time in the glass. Chocolate oranges, cocoa powder, nutmeg, almonds and hazelnut. A mild tobacco note and some cinnamon. A very light mineral note that’s buried way down deep along side some mint. Some florals and black tea, grassy. Lightly honeyed and malty, some weak coffee. The bottom of the glass reveals a bit of a sourdough note. Quite complex if the right amount of patience is applied. A lovely sweet and spicy sherry arrival on the palate. Somewhat bitter dark chocolate, chocolate sauce. A little more bitterness comes out but it’s never in danger of being too bitter. Walnuts and hazelnut, oranges and tangerines, but caramelized. Vanilla, Earl Grey tea, honeyed apples and pears, some cinnamon and nutmeg. The palate is nowhere near as complex as the nose, but no less enjoyable. A medium bodied mouthfeel that is silky smooth and oily at times, mouthwatering. The finish is medium long with sherry, chocolate, hazelnut, wood spice and is dry. Looking back at my tasting notes of the 12, it would seem that this is the same stuff with chocolate poured all over it, and I’m not complaining. It’s not blow you away good, but it is incredibly solid. A bit on the pricey side, but that’s Diageo for you. Time is really needed here to let the flavors develop and evolve enough to fully appreciate them. Very flavorful for a Lowland malt. Thanks to @LeeEvolved for the sample. A solid 4 Cheers

The big smoky scotches are pretty in-your-face. Even a bit slu tty . Maybe that’s why I love them in spite of my desire to be refined. The sweet Highland and Speyside malts get a lot of attention for their fancy gowns and up-dos. They are the belle of the ball. Lowland girls don’t get a lot of love. They aren’t very bold in general. They are a little like Cinderella. Easy to overlook, to push around, maybe they are wallflowers. But sometimes (increasingly often in my case) you get tired of the big fake boobs and the caked on makeup of the girls that so badly need attention. That’s when you realize that the unassuming charm of an Edinburgh girl is exactly what you want, and you’re kind of glad you’re not waiting in a long line for some sloppy seconds. This Glenkinchie expression is the perfect example. The nose doesn’t offer much other than a tantalizing whiff of vanilla as she walks by and gives you a shy but inviting glance. You don’t want to be creepy, so you excuse yourself and follow, but with the backup plan that if she looks alarmed, you’ll just ask her where the restroom is. No, she seems pleased to see you emerge in the hallway. The conversation is light, but she’s sweet and easy to talk to. Not saccharine sweet, no nectar or overripe fruit. Just a little heather and the vanilla that intrigued you in the first place. She cracks a salty joke then quickly looks up to see if she’s crossed a line. Your genuine laughter assures her you’re delighted, if pleasantly surprised. She takes courage and gets a little nutty, but only endearingly so. She suddenly realizes she has to go, but you can tell she regrets cutting your conversation short. And just like that she’s gone. Or is she? Your loins aren’t burning, but she stays perched on your mind the rest of the evening. You wonder if you’ll see her again and somehow the other girls, the ones you know you’ll turn to again for carnal pleasures, seem a bit garish.

So, I found this bottle on the bottom shelf of the larger ABC stores in downtown Richmond a month or two ago. Since I haven’t had it, I had to buy it. The only other ‘kinchie I’ve had to this point was the 12 year. Glenkinchie is a Lowland distillery that’s just a few miles outside of Edinburgh. This DE was distilled in 2004 and bottled in 2016- making it at least 11 years old. It was double matured in Amontillado sherry casks. It’s light copper in color and makes tons of oily legs in the Glencairn. It’s bottled at 43% ABV. The nose is pretty exciting if you give it some time to open up. Light sherry and red berries mingle with interesting floral notes and a hint of spearmint. Oak spices hide in the background and come and go with each sniff. We’re off to an intriguing start... The palate is where things begin to weaken. It has a very light, but oily mouthfeel. All I got were some sherry notes and a restrained oak presence. It’s boring, for the most part. No heat either. The finish is almost non-existent. It’s short, blink and you’ll miss it. The oiliness isn’t there either- oddly enough, it’s dry. There’s a hint of the oak again, but like I said, it’s gone so fast. Overall, what started out so promising fell apart pretty quickly. Well, I shouldn’t say it fell apart- nothing materialized, I guess. It’s a serviceable dram and I believe I paid around $60 for the bottle. In my line of spending that’s cheap, but it’s not really a good deal for this bottle. I can’t say I recommend this one to a seasoned whisky drinker. It might be okay for a newbie. 2.75 stars. Cheers.

Bottle killed 4/2/19 Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition OB NAS 43% ABV Distilled 2004 Bottled 2016 Finished in Amontillado Casks Price: 46 USD Glenkinchie, and most lowland single malts, want to be dry, grassy, and earthy. So, if I had to pick a sherry cask to finish the rather uninteresting, low-key core 12 year old Glenkinchie, amontillado makes sense. Amontillado is an earthy, dry, light sherry. But why do you have to pick a sherry cask? Why can’t this distiller’s edition be matured 12 years in bourbon, and then “finished” for an additional 4 years in the same bourbon cask? And bottled at 46%. At its best, Glenkinchie DE is a maltier Highland Park on the nose. A nice burst of bright fruits on a base of honey, hay, and cereal, with a touch of heathery smoke on the end. But the more you get to know this whisky, the more the sherry feels unwelcomed. Towards the end of the palate, and on the finish, this is a malt that wants to be rough, rugged, and grassy. The fruits from the sherry influence is like forcing a tomboy to be a ballerina. What Glenkinchie needs is more age and more ABV. Diageo’s special releases (20 year in 2010, and 24 year in 2016) are fantastic, but expensive, examples of what a beast this distillery can be. I am reasonably satisfied with this bottle for the marked-down price that I found it at. It was literally $1 more than the standard Glenkinchie at the same store. But this is one dram I don’t need to try again. Rating (price not factored): 80 / 100 Purchase satisfaction (price factored): 2.5 / 5

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #26: Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition. Single Malt Scotch. 43% ABV. D2004/B2016 Paid $46 Decent purchase at a sale price. I would consider again if I can find it for under $60. The original Glenkinchie 12 is the abomination of Diageo’s classic malts. Please don’t bother with the original Glenkinchie 12; it put me off this distillery for years. You can literally do anything to that juice and make it better. The 2016 Distiller’s Edition does make improvements by finishing in Amontillado sherry casks. The raw grass, oatmeal, green fruits of the original is balanced well by delicate sherry and dark fruit notes. Pleasant medium body and silky mouthfeel. Sweet, fruity, and floral arrival transitioning to some spices, followed by vanilla and cocoa flavored black tea or even coffee. Not mindblowing stuff, but better than expected. In a blind tasting, I thought this was Balvenie 12 DoubleWood, which is clearly not as good. MARK: 83/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #27: Macallan Sherry Oak. $66. 43%. 12 years. 82/100. #28: Eagle Rare. $37. 45%. 10 years. 80/100. #29: Old Pulteney. $40. 43%. 12 years. 80/100. #30: Balvenie DoubleWood. $50. 43%. 12 years. 78/100.

I don’t know how to do this without revealing something of a fetish. But I’m an honest man who wants to keep an accurate record of his experiences. At least in this forum where I use a fake name and no one knows me. The nose tonight was especially intriguing. A little banana. But something else. I’m taken back to a time, early in my career, when I popped into the nearby cubicle of a coworker. She was cute, but I hadn’t thought much about her. There was a very slight musty, sweaty smell. Not offensive, maybe offset by a little fabric softener. I glanced about and noticed she’d removed her shoes under her desk. Her little white socks must’ve been the source of the enticing odor. From that day on, I nursed a little crush. I don’t know why, but the olfactories sent a signal to my brain on nosing this dram that dredged up that little throwback. There’s honey and heather, a little smoke and salt. Then just grass and the warmth of the sun for a long time. Now I’m torn about whether to pour another dram or google “slightly sweaty socks”. This whisky smiles gently and urges, “Why not both?”