Glengoyne 25 Years Old (48%, OB, 2014)

48% ABV, £250

Score: 90/100

What they say:

Matured exclusively in hand-selected sherry casks for a quarter of a century, this unique malt is an important addition to the Glengoyne collection. This bright amber beauty has red fruits, leather and brown sugar on the nose and soft oak, cinnamon, stewed fruits and a Seville marmalade tang on the palate.The finish is very long with spicy liquorice.

The malt is presented in a new heavy bespoke bottle and outer box. The bottle features a fine metal stopper, crafted cartouche and delicately branded neck tag and is attractively displayed in an oak box interior which includes an engraved plinth. The elegant exterior has a refined feather pattern subtly varnished on the pack.

What I say:

Wow, finally received the chance to have a good dram of the Glengoyne 25 Year Old whisky. We visited Glengoyne distillery not too long ago and managed to bag a plethora of their bottlings including the Cask Strength and Teapot Dram Batch #2 as well as have a fantastic time there! So this is their latest ‘premium’ expression.

Colour:

Deep amber/ruby

Nose:

Red fruits, strawberry, sweet morello cherry, raisins, cinnamon spices and deep tanned leather

Taste:

Mellow and sweet and a lot less fruity than the nose belies, this has nutty walnut, figs, prunes, a little molasses and cane sugar before wood polish, teak oil, teak mahogany and old oak wood all permeate – I find myself thinking about sitting in an deep, polished leather armchair in an antique shop and breathing in the lifetime of stories from the wooden furniture around me…

Finish:

Clarifying, this actually felt like it polished my teeth and then the rest of my whole mouth, a strange mix of initially drying then rapidly mouth watering fruity orange and peach before more woody notes

Would I buy it:

In theory… (as I will likely never spend [or have to spend] £250 on a single bottle of whisky)

To put this into perspective I took a look at other premium whiskies currently available in the £250 price range, excluding rare malts/closed distilleries etc. and came up with the list of Glencadam or Glenglassaugh 30 Year Old, or Glenmorangie or Glenfarclas 25 Year Old. Of these I have tried the Glenglassaugh and was of the impression it was equally as good as this Glengoyne 25 Year Old. In the end I decided I would need £1250 to buy them all!

In actuality, no I am unlikely ever to buy a whisky at £250 a bottle, however if like me you have an affinity for Glengoyne, love sherried whiskies or old woody whiskies and do have that kind of money to spend – then I don’t think you would be disappointed with this 25 year old expression. Beautifully constructed, this is a whisky that needs an open fire, a deep leather armchair and plenty of time to mull over it.