Connoisseurs Choice: Glenlochy 1974 (Scottish Highland Single Malt Whisky: 40% ABV)
Visual: Deep gold. Fast, thick streaks come from the spirit.
Nose: Honey. Thick. Menthol to peppermint. Pencil shavings. Pear drops. Oak. Honeycomb. Water adds varnish and more noticeable alcohol.
Body: Treacle. Warming alcohol. Oaken. Some liquorice. Malt drinks. Pear drops. Light varnish feel. Water adds sticky toffee pudding. Raisins. Vanilla. More water adds apricot and toffee.
Finish: Dry oak and tannins. Charred. Varnish air. Water makes slightly waxy. Raisins. Peppery. Slight smoke.
Conclusion: This is a thick one, especially considering that it comes it at exactly the 40% abv cut off line for being considered whisky. It is very thick, and with it very treacly. The initial honey notes in the aroma quickly becoming those heavy treacle notes as you sip.
Despite its thickness there are lighter fruit notes backing it up, though they do come across in an artificial pear drop kind of way. That then leads out into a lightly waxy, almost varnish touched air and feel. It is a very unusual mouthfeel, and the strange varnish like air heads out into the finish. Despite how it may sound it is not unpleasant, that’s just the best way I could find to describe the odd feel – a feel that is very clingy.
Water helps smooth off some of the edges, bringing out more gentle fruit and sweet notes. As it leads out into the finish it tends to get a bit tannins and oak heavy. Basically the finish is not the best part of the experience is what I am saying.
Overall it is fairly solid. It feels quite youthful, but not painfully so. Good weight to it, some decent flavor and some very different mouthfeel. If it was a not too expensive single malt I would find it a solid experience and one to keep around.
However, it is a dead distillery. A very expensive dead distillery. So, in its time it would have been a heavy but balanced sweet to fruity thick dram. Now, it is sub optimal for the money to say the least.
Like many dead distilleries, not worth the cost it goes for these days, interesting though it may be.
Background: Second and final mini I picked up from Hard To Find Whisky, and as of such another dead distillery I have not tried before. After the previous mini worked out ok I was much less nervous going into trying this one – being confident now that they are selling legitimate old whisky. Speaking of old, no idea of the age statement of this one – the Connoisseurs Choice miniatures don’t seem to have the bottled date, unlike their 70cl cousins, so could be any of the many 1974 distilled bottlings. At a guess I would say at the younger end of the scale though. Anyway, after many, many people recommended the new album to me I went with Tool: Fear Incoulum. OK, what the heck even is this album? Going to have to take a few more listens to get my head around it. Expect it to turn up in the background of more tasting notes.
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