Glengoyne Teapot Dram Batch 7

By Barry Bradford on March 13, 2020 • ( 1 Comment )

Glengoyne Teapot Dram Batch 7 (59.9%, OB, 3993 Bottles, 2019)

ABV: 59.9%
Age: NAS
Bottling: OB
Category: Highland single malt scotch whisky
Cost: £120 from Glengoyne distillery
Origin: Glengoyne Distillery
Vintage: undeclared

What they say

Until the 1970s, many distilleries used to keep their workers sweet with a daily dram. It was usually a meagre tumbler of new-make spirit, hot off the stills. But not at Glengoyne.

Our daily dram was always from a young, flavour-packed sherry cask – so that’s exactly what you’ll find in the Teapot Dram Batch No. 007. What better way to show our appreciation of the team’s time and care?

Inspired by the long-gone tradition of our daily whisky ration, the cask strength Teapot Dram Batch No. 007 is deliberately young and bold. A strictly limited release of just ten first fill European Oak Oloroso sherry casks, the Teapot Dram Batch No. 007 is only available from the Glengoyne Distillery. On the taste, it has initial swathes of red apples, demerara sugar and chocolate-enrobed Turkish delight, which give way to a tangy Seville marmalade, cinnamon, cloves and rich, dark cocoa. It has an exceptionally long finish and a burst of crystallised sugar sweetness at the end. The Teapot Dram is the perfect way to show your appreciation of that special whisky-lover in your life.

Official tasting notes:

Colour: Rich copper
Nose: Swathes of red apples, Demerara sugar and chocolate-enrobed Turkish delight.
Palate: Mouth-coating, with tangy Seville marmalade, cinnamon, cloves and rich, dark cocoa.
Finish: An exceptionally long finish, with a burst of crystallised sugar sweetness at the end.

What I say

Another chilly November evening in warehouse No.1 at Glengoyne distillery. Faced with Robbie Hughes and Gordon Dundas and the lighting required to broadcast the event out to Facebook live. Once again a select group of us are huddled around a barrel nursing the latest Teapot Dram edition (Batch 007) whilst we count down to the live broadcast. This year the Teapot dram has been selected solely from European oak 1st fill Oloroso sherry casks, 10 to be exact. Robbie explained this wasn’t intentional but rather a two way selection process between identifying casks and the blending team marrying them together for optimal result, a dram worthy of being bottles as part of the Teapot series. Whilst an impression was formed on the evening I later sampled further at home under slightly warmer conditions to get a more fuller impression of this whisky.

This review was sponsored by Glengoyne by provision of a sample of this product.

My tasting notes:

Appearance: Dark ruby (15/20), rare, medium tears and medium-fine legs.
Nose: Heady, fig, raisin, syrup, jam, berries, spice, powdery and dry baking spices, rich caramel, sticky toffee pudding, dry and old woody oak, parquet flooring, orange, banana, vanilla, almond.
Taste: Thick and rich, much more spice up-front on the palate, chewy and tannic, tobacco leaf, cigar boxes, a touch menthol or eucalyptus or possibly even camphor wood, pine sap, birch wood, herbal and spicy, dark chocolate and mint, after-eights, red berry and red apple fruits.
Finish: Long, spicy, dried fruit, nutty.

Overall

Spicy, which I’m not a huge fan of – but I can appreciate here. European oak influence in abundance, young and vibrant and very sherried. Carries a nice tannic/chewy rancio-like quality. Probably not my favourite of the Teapot drams I have tried so far but very worthy of the name.