This bottle of 1995 John Milroy Glen Grant 23 Years was supposed to be opened in March of 2020… and then the world came to pause. It was supposed to be opened for a Malt Nuts Glen Grant tasting event and instead it went back into the closet. It was then moved to the mountains where I moved during the pandemic and there it sat till a warm Los Angeles evening summer 2021.
Our Malt Nuts: New and Old Glen Grant Tasting was our first in-person tasting since the beginning of COVID and we felt doing our first canceled tasting was a poetic way to bring us back together. And now, several months later, I’m revisiting this whisky to give it the respect it deserves with a dedicated, official review.
If you read the Malt Nuts post already, or snuck a peek at it from the link above, you already know I thought this was one of the best whiskies from that evening. But the addition of air, time and tasting it alone can shift perception a bit. So to really understand this whisky I need to sit at home, watch the fog roll in through trees like it is now, and get to drinkin’. Here we go.
1995 John Milroy Glen Grant 23 Years – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Region: Speyside, Scotland
Distiller: Glen Grant
Bottler: John Milroy
Mash Bill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: Refill Hogshead (ex-Bourbon)
Age: 23 Years (1995 – 2019)
ABV: 49.0%
Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Barrel: 119468
Price: $160
Tasting Notes
EYE
Honey
NOSE
Orchard and tropical fruit, honied malt, fruity candy sweetness, leather, hints of banana bread, nuts and hay.
Complex fruit and a subtle earthiness collide in a ballet of dueling profiles that’s just wonderful.
PALATE
Complex layers of fruit (tropical, orchard, stone, dried, fresh), malty sweetness, buttery toffee, decadent candy and subtle notes of spice and oak.
Wow. The palate of this 1995 John Milroy Glen Grant 23 Years is simply incredible.
FINISH
Long -> Huge wave of fruit fades out to honied graham then baking spices and oak.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Perfectly balanced, full-round body with a heavy oily feel.
1995 John Milroy Glen Grant 23 Years – Overall Thoughts and Score
What… the… hell. Hands down, this is one of the best Glen Grants I’ve had. This thing is heavy, it’s complex, it’s dynamic and it’s perfectly balanced. This is crazy good and so well balanced it’s like drinking on the edge of a knife. Which can create some mixed feelings when drank the way it was.
On one hand, there is a touch of regret that it was opened for a large group tasting and less than a 1/4 remained by the end, as is the tradition. On the other hand, I’m utterly delighted that people I like and care about got to try this whisky and I was able to experience it with them. Whiskies like this make me wish I was in a position to buy two of everything: one to share, and one to keep.
Though, let’s be honest. If I had a second bottle of the 1995 John Milroy Glen Grant 23 Years I wouldn’t drink the whole thing on my own. I’d want to share it with everyone who walked in my door. Whisky is meant to be drank with friends, not hoarded or devoured alone.
SCORE: 4.5/5
1995 John Milroy Glen Grant 23 Years Review $160
Summary
A better example of the beauty of Glen Grant is hard to come by. This is a stellar whisky from the first sniff to the last note of the long fading finish.
Overall
4.5- Nose (4.5)
- Palate (4.5)
- Finish (4.5)
- BBF (4.5)