AN EVENING WITH GLEN MORAY..

Last night ( 5-9-16 ) I had the pleasure of joining several other bloggers and some of the staff from Glen Moray distillery in a live tasting of 5 expressions form their impressive portfolio.. These live events are organised by Steve from the whisky wire, an online promotional company that can be found easily on the likes of Twitter and Facebook..  This tasting was rather special in that we had a beautiful box delivered that held some rather generous samples, and these samples turned out to be rather special too..

On the night we sampled the

Glen Moray classic Peated..

Glen Moray sherry finish..

Glen Moray 15yo ( new release )

Glen Moray 1994 single cask sherry finish

Glen Moray cider cask finish ( BYO )

A rather nice little selection.. The biggest problem this distillery has is that most people think that because the malt is cheap it won’t be any good..  O your so wrong there, yes it’s cheap but it has a lot of quality and the master blender/ master distiller and distillery manager ( yes he has a big title ) Graham Coull really does know how to choose a great whisky.. The malts were introduced one by one, a little information given then the rest of us added our own thoughts.. I have already reviewed two of the expressions so I will just do a quick note on each of these and add a little more detail to the other three..

First up was the Classic peated..

Bottled at 40% abv

Nose.. Instantly peaty but not overwhelming, quite fruity and a delicate sweetness.. In the back ground you can pick up a subtle floral note and delicate oak.

Palate.. Bonfire smoke, smouldering wood and lots of toffee, apples,butterscotch and vanilla..

Finish.. Lingering smoke with oak spice.

Second dram on the night was the recently released  sherry cask finish.. Again bottled at 40%abv.

Nose.. Dried fruits like dates, sultanas and candied orange.. Hints of apricot, poached pear, toffee and burnt sugar. Subtle vanilla with hints of blossom linger in the background..

Palate.. A little more spicy to start, with ginger and nutmeg along side dates, raisins and butterscotch. A little oak shows up with honey and a hint of fruit..

Finisk.. A medium finish with spices till the end..

Third up was the new release, the 15yo which will replace the old 16yo. This is a mix of 50% sherry and 50% bourbon casks, bottled again at 40%

Nose.. This was good ! Lovely dates, figs and plums coated your nostrils while rich chocolate, candied orange, sticky toffee pudding all caressed your senses.. A hint of tobacco, liquorice and gentle oak balanced out the nose perfectly.

Palate.. Again the dark fruits dominated, with more spices, fresh fruits and that tobacco note.. Gentle wood mingled with vanilla and butterscotch notes while black treacle and cherries were finished it off..

Finish.. Lingering sherry notes..

Thoughts.. This is perfectly balanced with some great complexity to it..

The fourth dram of the night was the 1994 single cask, this started as a first fill bourbon cask filled in 1994 then finished in a oloroso cask in 2011.. This was bottled at 56.7%abv..

Nose.. DARK .. This is a monster dram, full of dates, figs, raisins, plums, cherries, rich dark chocolate, aniseed, tobacco, orange peel, vanilla, delicious dark toffee and fruity ..

Palate.. Basically everything from the nose and more… Much, much more.

Finish.. Long and luscious..

Thoughts.. STUNNING…..

Last up was the mystery malt.. This turned out to be the distillery BYO which  is currently a cider cask finish.  A cask that had matured Glen Moray was sent to Thirsty cross cider to hold some of their delicious cider before being returned to finish some more whisky in.. Bottled at cask strength this expression had us guessing.. My notes were..

Nose..  Lovely caramel, vanilla pods, subtle spices, butterscotch, burnt coconut..dark toffee,with a fruity twist..

Palate.. Quite different to nose.. More spicy.. Apples less vanilla, more fruity with a little oak.

Finish.. Sweet and fresh..

Overall thoughts..  On the night there was some fantastic whisky to be sampled but the stand out dram for me just had to be the 1994, this was so Devine on the nose and palate, the nose was just so packed with deliciousness and this just carried on to the palate.. Complex and balanced perfectly this expression could very easily be in the top 3 malts I’ve had this year.. I really should not forget the others too, the 15yo was also fantastic, the aromas coming from these sherry finished bottles is staggeringly good.. When you think the basic core range ” classic” expressions can very easily be found ranging from £18-£25 how can you possibly go wrong.. Well if you don’t try them you have already missed out on some fine whisky!  Don’t overlook Glen Moray.. You will regret it if you do..

My thanks go out to Steve from the whisky wire for inviting me on to this tasting, Graham Coull for the superb whisky, Ian from Glen Moray for the samples.. And everyone else involved on the night.. As usual it was a great evening with some great people..