Glenglassaugh Revival

By Barry Bradford on October 10, 2017 • ( Leave a comment )

Glenglassaugh Revival (46%, OB, 2017)

Category: Highland single malt scotch whisky
Origin: Glenglassaugh Distillery
Bottling: Brown-Forman
ABV: 46%
Cost: £37.43 buy

What they say:

Revival

The Revival is the first expression released from Glenglassaugh distillery after being mothballed for more than 20 years. The Glenglassaugh Revival has been matured in a balanced mix of ex-red wine and fresh bourbon casks, vatted and re-racked for double maturation in rich sherry casks. Bottled at 46%, non chill filtered and of natural colour, Revival is a stunning Highland single malt with a coastal charm.

Colour: Copper

Nose: Sweet caramel and toffee with notes of nutty sherry, milk chocolate and honey. Ripe plums, red berries and oranges. Caramelised sugar and earthy, charred oak.

Palate: Sweet, rounded and creamy. Oranges, plums, cherry and walnuts, chocolate, honey-mead, sherry and soft, spiced oak.

Finish: Medium with warming mulled-wine spices, sherry and caramel.

What I say:

Sampled during our visit to Glenglassaugh distillery. After touring the distillery we sampled a little of the new make spirit after exiting the rear of the stillhouse and as a prelude to sampling the Revival and Torfa expressions overlooking the scenic Sandend Bay.

Appearance:

Ruby red with copper highlights (13/20)

Nose:

Sweet with dark caramelised sugars, toffee, molasses, fruity berries, bramble, blackcurrant and raspberry, cherry, orange peels, some candied and some still fresh and zesty, fig, nutty, milk chocolate

Taste:

Sweet on the palate but also with a distinct creaminess, somewhere between mixed berry panna cotta and black forest gateaux with the associated chocolate notes, plums, prunes and cherries – both black and red and also some dried also, raisin, roasted hazelnuts caramelised with honey and a slightly earthy and charred oak wood

Finish:

Long, red and black fruits, sweet then bitter with soft tannins and spices like clove or liquorice root

Overall:

Quite complex due to the cask tinkering, but the red-wine lover in me enjoyed much of this. Unfortunately with all that fruit and wood influence from the wine and sherry casks I found it hard to find much of the original Glenglassaugh ‘DNA’ or spirit character in here…