Glenturret 35 Years Old (Kintra Whisky)

How can you not like Kintra? A small independent bottler founded by Erik Molenaar, consistently bottling good whisky. And now Erik also started his own distillery, called Wagging Finger. He already has his own gin. We’ll have to wait a bit longer for his own whisky. So for now we’ll have to make do with his independent bottlings. Glenturret 35 Years Old from a refill sherry cask, anyone?

This Glenturret was distilled in 1977, and released just this year. So why is it not 38 or even 39 years old? Erik explained on his Facebook-page: ‘The spirit was taken out of the cask mid 2013 because the cask was sold and taken to a bottler. The sale however was never finalised. The spirit was put in a container and was held at the bottler until recently it was bottled under the Kintra label.’

Glenturret 35 Years Old (47,1%, Kintra, C#19)

Nose: Oh, this is old whisky 🙂 A thin layer of shoe polish, burlap and varnish quickly vanishes and makes way for subtle sherry aromas only a good refill cask can create. There’s fudge, biscuits. And now more fruit as well, oranges, clementine, raspberries and brambles. Balsamic vinegar too. And finally a hint of chocolate. Ever-changing and complex.
Taste: Quite a bit of oak, but I don’t mind it one bit. Some brown sugar. This is fruitier from the get-go. Blackberries and cherry syrup. But also pink grapefruit, oranges, clementine and ginger. All very subtle and well integrated. Mature. Maybe a little less complex than the nose, but I’m nitpicking now.
Finish: More of the same. Oak, grapefruit. A slight bitterness and then chocolate followed by red fruit. Long.

Rating: 92

This is whisky heaven. Granted, I’ve not tasted all Kintra-bottlings (not even close), but this must be one of Erik’s best ever picks.

Thijs Klaverstijn

Thijs is a spirits writer and accredited liquorist from The Netherlands. He runs the blog Words of Whisky and contributes to a number of Dutch and international publications.

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