Glenalba 34yo

 

The Glenalba range is not a widely known name, it can be found on the shelfs of a particular supermarket.. Lidl.. Ok so many will be thinking a whisky from lidl is going to be lower end but I think you might be in for a shock.  The supermarket has over the last few years thrown us some rather tasty, well priced gems, not so long ago we had a lovely old expression for sub £50.. You don’t see that very often. So today I have the Glenalba 34yo blend,  the label reads ” A whisky of rare distinction, crafted from a blend of only the finest 34 year old malts and grain whiskies. Then finished in carefully selected sherry casks ” intrigued .. I was, so off I popped and bought myself a couple of bottles, this one up for review is from batch 12, and is bottled at 40%abv.

Nose..  Very fruity with some nice scents of baked apple pie, pears smothered in honey , dried fruit rises up with some gusto, dates, figs and candied orange peel. Luxuary Turkish delight and bitter chocolate. Subtle oaky notes ride along with eastern spices and subtle coconut.

 

Palate.. This screams eastern promise.. Dried fruit comes in waves, spices like ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon march  over the tounge,  sugared almonds and toffee with caramel shortbread and butterscotch sweets bring a lovely sweet side out before a dark side shows up, bonfire toffee, molasses and black cherries.. Bitter coffee and bournville chocolate finish in style.

 

Finish.. A lovely long spicy ride with some good oaky notes.

 

Thoughts.. A 34yo priced at £49 .. You would be forgiven if you thought it can’t be very good.. This though is rather good, and by that I mean bloody good for that price..  There are some rather good flavours, and a lovely complexity to it.. It is very well balanced, and has the feel of luxuary to it.. The casks have done a good job, the sherry finish has worked a treat, if this had a different label on it we would be paying a lot more than the price tag..