This is the first in-person tasting the Malt Nuts have done since the pandemic started and we chose it carefully: it was the tasting we were supposed to do the week the world came to a halt.
Glen Grant is a fan favorite amongst the group and we’d been talking about this tasting for years. It was one we knew would be for the history books. Seriously, how often do you see more than one 20+ yo Glen Grant in a room? Let alone 8 ranged 20-30+, accompanied by 4 more aged 12-19, and 2 dusty blends? It’s a tasting lineup I’ve just never seen anyone do before.
Combine this incredible lineup with the usual Malt Nuts crew and add a dash of Robin Coupar and Johnnie Mundel, two of the absolute best in the industry who joined us as friends of the group, and you had a recipe for an unparalleled evening… and it was.
Robin was a stream of information and history, which Johnnie skipped a few poignant rocks across, and the whole MN crew was there to celebrate Glen Grant and life. It was a magical evening of reconnection and friendship enhanced by the special drams we had in our glasses. A night I won’t soon forget.
Malt Nuts: New and Old Glen Grant – Round 1
1A: Glen Grant 12 years: 43%
- Nose: Honey, fruit, graham, banana, marzipan.
- Palate: Honey, fruit, copper, pastry, taffy.
- Finish: med-Long -> Dark sweets, graham, char and fruit.
- Overall: (2.5 / 5) Sweet malt with a bit of earth holding it together and a dry finish.
1B: Seagram’s 100 Pipers: 43%
- Nose: Musty graham, phenolic funk, caramel, copper, stale sherry.
- Palate: Musty and perfumy with a touch of copper sweetness.
- Finish: Short -> Coppery OBE.
- Overall: (1.5 / 5) Some kind of old blend that might be a bit oxidized. Not enjoying it.
Post-Reveal Commentary: I could tell 1B was something old (bottled old, not cask old) but the reveal of the 100 Pipers was unexpected. I haven’t seen a bottle of that in a long time, but Glen Grant was a key malt component of it and that’s why it was there. This really was a good start to the night, a good way to kick off this kind of tasting and set the stage for what came next.
Malt Nuts: New and Old Glen Grant – Round 2
2A: Glen Grant 18 years: 43%
- Nose: Honey candy, orchard fruit, malt, pastry, tropical fruit.
- Palate: Tropical fruit candy, herbal and malty sweet with a butteriness.
- Finish: Long -> Sunkist fruit candy and malt.
- Overall: (4 / 5) Buttery with a caramel fruit cake kick. I’m loving this one.
2B: Battlehill Glen Grant 20 years: 46% – “Oak”
- Nose: Campfire smoke, graham and camphor.
- Palate: Sweetly smoky, darkly fruity, sweet and malty.
- Finish: Long -> Smoke, fruit and graham.
- Overall: (3.5 / 5) Fruity, smoky, malty goodness. Opens a tad hay-like and farmy, but that earthiness just adds to it.
2C: Mackillop’s Choice Glen Grant 30 years (80-10): 46%
- Nose: Tropical fruit, orchard fruit, malt, oak and caramel.
- Palate: Malt, complex fruit, layered dark sweets and oak.
- Finish: Long -> Malt, fruit, graham.
- Overall: (4.5 / 5) VERY nice. It has a ton of character and depth. Just lovely.
2D: Chivas Regal (70s) 12 years: 43%
- Nose: Light and floral with a touch of malt and fruit and OBE.
- Palate: Soapy and a touch smoky with bits of malt and fruit and OBE.
- Finish: Long -> Soapy smoky caramel and mustiness.
- Overall: (1.5 / 5) This is just so dang soapy and floral, it has to be a weird old blend with that punch of OBE funk.
Post-Reveal Commentary: From a haze of conversation and laughter 2C rose to grab my attention. The others in this round were good, except the Chivas, but 2C reached out and demanded attention. Wow is that a great bottle. The Chivas was, unfortunately, a soapy-oxidized mess. I’ve had some tasty Chivas from the 50s, 60s and 70s, and a truly outstanding one from the 40s, but this one didn’t match those previous experiences. It was here for the same reason as the 100 Pipers.
Malt Nuts: New and Old Glen Grant – Round 3
3A: John Milroy Glen Grant 23 years (95-19): 49% – Refill Hogshead
- Nose: Sugary Sunkist fruit gem candy, malt and a chalky “olde candy” sweetness.
- Palate: Deeply fruity, buttery, malty and some of that same chalky candy.
- Finish: Med -> Fruity goodness.
- Overall: (4 / 5) Another fantastic dram. This tasting has a nice array of wonderful Glen Grants.
3B: Glen Grant 15 years Batch Strength: 50%
- Nose: Chalky, ashy, fruity sweet and a bit of nutty char.
- Palate: Fruity, mildly smoky and oily, ashy and nutty.
- Finish: Long -> Sooty smoke and oil.
- Overall: (2.5 / 5) WTF? This is weird, not at all Glen Grant-like and just… odd. I don’t have its, it has an allure to its odd, almost mechanical, presentation… it’s just so unlike the others.
3C: The Munro’s Glen Grant 22 years (95-17): 53.9% – ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Honey, malt, graham, caramel, copper.
- Palate: Fruit, malt and a deep dark sweetness.
- Finish: Med-long -> Fruity, malty.
- Overall: (3.5 / 5) Warm and fun, just a solid drinker.
3D: A.D. Rattray Glen Grant 20 years (92-13): 47.2% – “Barrel”
- Nose: Fruity, astringent, malt, Sunkist candy and dried fruit.
- Palate: Char, chalk, cocoa, dried fruit and nuts.
- Finish: Med-long -> Fruit, malt, char, cocoa, nuts.
- Overall: (3 / 5) Odd… but good. I don’t hate anything about this.
3E: Subtle Spirirts Glen Grant 23 years: 52.4%
- Nose: Fruit, malt, cocoa, caramel.
- Palate: Banana, caramel, vanilla, spice and cocoa.
- Finish: Long -> Caramel, S’mores and malt.
- Overall: (3 / 5) It’s a bit chalky and dry overall, but still pleasantly drinkable.
Post-Reveal Commentary: Another good round, and again another special dram that stood out above everything else. That John Milroy (from K&L) was delicious and filled the senses. I was elated to see what it was after the reveal because this one was mine and I’m killing what little remained of the bottle while writing this recap and yes… it holds up. In fact, it’s gotten better with a bit of time and air.
Malt Nuts: New and Old Glen Grant – Round 4
4A: Berry Bro’s and Rudd Glen Grant 22 years (95-18): 50.2% – ex-Bourbon
- Nose: Banana’s Foster, caramel, malt and vanilla.
- Palate: Banana’s Foster, caramel, malt, vanilla, tropical fruit, chalk and Honey Nut Cheerios.
- Finish: Long -> Dried fruit, HNC and dessert sweetness.
- Overall: (3.5 / 5) The fruit gets more complex and prominent as it opens. Another nice sipper.
4B: SMWS “Witche’s Night 9.155 (Glen Grant) 22 years (96-19): 58.1% – 1st Fill Hogshead & ex-PX
- Nose: Tart and jammy, red licorice, chalky vanilla and ink.
- Palate: Alkine tartness, iodine, hay and smoke.
- Finish: Medium -> Ink, malt, smoke and copper.
- Overall: (2 / 5) It’s funky and cloying and a touch smoky/charred and slowly turns woody. Not really enjoying.
4C: Adelphi Glen Grant 19 years (95-15): 55.7%
- Nose: Malt, banana taffy, pastries and dried fruit.
- Palate: Malt, banana taffy, pastries and dried fruit.
- Finish: Medium -> Banana taffy and malt.
- Overall: (3 / 5) Has a nice sweetness to it and drinkable, but only a hair above “average”… like a 2.6/5 if I were getting super detailed.
Post-Reveal Commentary: This was a good way to end the tasting. Almost like a ramping down of everything we’d had that evening. A great cap to the night.
This was an amazing evening that could never be repeated. Yes the people and most of the booze could all be brought together again, but the feeling of “the first in a long time” is something that can’t be repeated. This was one for the books.
Thanks for reading, cheers.
