The Whisky Exchange: Black Friday 2023 (Glenkinchie) (Scottish Lowland Single Malt Whisky: 15 Year: 54.2% ABV)
Visual: Pale darked grain, with slow puckering coming from the spirit.
Nose: Barley fields. Soft lime. Quite strong alcohol. Caramel to chocolate eclair hard sweets. Choc limes. Water adds honey, fatty butter.
Body: Strong alcohol. Honeyed shreddies. Squeezed orange. Slight milky coffee. Minerally. Wet rocks. Water adds honey. Smooth but strong, everything that came before but clearer. More water adds peach.
Finish: Minerally. Lime. Alcohol sheen. Slight fatty butter. Water makes for stronger lime to lime jelly. Honey sheen. Toffee. Peach.
Conclusion: I was never the biggest fan of Glenkinchie, so when I first tried this as a The Whisky Exchange tasting, I was not expecting much.
Sooo, holy crap I love this whisky.
Neat it is intense, with a lot of the notes that will come later hidden by the alcohol, however even here it shows what makes it work for me already. The extra weight given by the abv gives a lot of grip to the flavour, and the 15 years of age in lowland style means that it is still very drinkable despite that that high abv, but that weight makes it feels much more robust in flavor and texture that my previous experiences with Glenkinchie.
There is solid caramel sweetness, and lime citrus notes. The sweet easy lowland character, just turned up a lot and , while simple, it is very enjoyable like this.
As you add water, not only does the alcohol sooth but so much extra comes out. A lighter honey instead of caramel for sweetness, and depending one exactly how much water you add, pear or pear bright notes shine through This is a masterclass of lowland character, with so much more room to explore and more weight than normal. If this is still available I highly recommend it.
Background: There was a The Whisky Exchange tasting over in Bristol a while back which I attended, where they showcased their set of independently bottle whiskies. This was once of them, released for Black Friday as the name indicates – they revealed it was a Glenkinchie, which I have to admit is not a distillery that has ever excited me so I was not expecting much. As you can see I then bought a bottle as it blew me away. Then best part of a year later I am finally uploading the notes, as I am lazy. It is aged 60% in ex buffalo trace bourbon barrels and 40% refill sherry butts. Had just seen the Circle Jerks live recently so went with Circle Jerks: Group Sex as backing music. Now … some of the lyrics have not aged well, I mean nigh all the lyrics are crude but that is not something that bothers me, but yeah a few not aged well bits. Still, for the most part an excellent punk band and were great live.
