Glen Garioch 12 Year Old

This review is from a sample kindly sent by @Wierdo. I've added about two drops of water to a 20ml pour and let it sit for ten minutes or so.

Nose - Initial hints of sweet fruits (strawberries and raspberries) and toffee with a touch of fresh ginger and soft baking spices. Some creamy vanilla emerges with time alongside some soft oak and a hint of peat.

Taste - I expect sweetness but it's the spices that stand out, especially the ginger which gives it a nice 'biting' quality. Some dry fruit comes out as it develops. Enjoyably thick mouthfeel and quite rich.

Finish - Med - long and quite drying with some slightly bitter green tea notes and a hint of sherry sweetness.

My initial taste of this was all about the sweet fruits but even allowing a little air to the sample bottle has helped this. Much more rounded and less overtly 'desert like' on this tasting. I like its balance and feel this is a good example of a Highland whisky - a little bit of everything; if pressed, I'd put it in the Benromach 10 'category', if that makes sense? Overall, fairly impressed but having had the luxury of a sample, I'd probably pick up the aforementioned over this and save a few quid in the process.

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