Glen Marnoch 29 Year Old 1988

Glen Marnoch is the ‘luxe’ whisky brand of the German discount chain Aldi. There are NAS-expressions of Speyside, Highland and even Islay, but the distillery is kept secret (probably at the request of the producers). End of last year this Glen Marnoch 1988 was released, matured for almost three decades in the Speyside and somewhat hyped.

Very creamy nose on famer’s butter and oranges, dried apricots, mint and even a bit of peat. Becomes somewhat candy-like. Some nuts. Quite nice, actually. Round and rich.

Nicely oily and immediately very sweet on vanilla custard and pineapple cubes. Then some spices kick in like pepper and nutmeg. Some beeswax to give it depth. A slice of kiwi add a sour note, while a hint of quinine offers up some bitterness. Very round and nice whisky, to be honest.

Despite the low ABV, the finish is pretty long. I get mostly kiwi and a touch of sweet peat with some extra pepper at the death.

Yup, this is good stuff. If it were bottled at cask strength, it would probably be a belter. Thanks for the sample, Tom.