Glen Garioch 12 Year Old 1990 Cadenhead

Cadenhead is one Scotland’s oldest independent bottlers. Their Authentic Collection contains, among others, this Glen Garioch from 1990, bottled at cask strength in 2003.

The nose is very feisty, almost piquant. I get a fair amount of nuts, a wonderful smokiness and a truckload of both vanilla and cake, whipped cream on top. A fruit cake with apples and peaches. Marzipan and icing sugar. Coconut. Something sourish like gooseberries. It also has a little dirty edge, but it works fine.

It is oily, almost creamy, on the palate. Heavily peppered. All kinds of sweet fruit, but also agrums emerge. Quite a lot, actually. Something like tonic. Citric acid is the key word. Wonderfully spicy and warming. That is the ABV, of course. Vanilla and honey are present as well.

The finish is very long and sweet, but also very spicy. The smoke never leaves.

What a nice Glen Garioch! I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Around 60 EUR if you know where to look.

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