Outside of cleaning up in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible, Glen Grant doesn’t often make headlines. The distillery produces a lighter style of whisky that won’t soon make head turns, unless of course it’s aged for many decades and bottled by Gordon & MacPhail. Their core range isn’t very inspiring an most everything is bottled at 43% or below. However, a few years ago they gave us the Glen Grant 15 Years Batch Strength. Only 10,680 bottles were available and most was sold in the United States and Travel Retail.
Glen Grant’s pot stills are mainly responsible for the distillery’s subtle flavour profile. They have almost square boil bulbs, resulting in increased copper surface. They’re also fitted with purifying chambers in the lyne arm, essentially acting as a sort of pre-condenser. When a distillery produces a lighter style I often find it beneficial if they decide to bottle their single malt at a higher strength. So bottling the Glen Grant 15 Years at 50% should work out well.
Glen Grant 15 Years Batch Strength (50%, OB, 1st Edition)
Nose: Slightly waxy. Whiffs of vanillin and orchard fruits, but also a touch of rhubarb. Overall this is a sweet, honeyed whisky with sweet notes of marzipan, accompanied by lemon peel and a whisper of saw dust.
Taste: Somewhat bitter arrival and the oaky notes are more present on the palate. A creamy mouthfeel with white pepper and cloves, leaving some room for apple compote, juicy pears and vanilla.
Finish: A spicy, waxy finale with a hint of white chocolate.
Score: 85
Not widely available anymore, but you can still find it for a decent price (it’s a 1 litre bottle). The Glen Grant 15 Years Batch Strength offers seriously good value for money. No frills, just good whisky. It’s not available in many places anymore. Hopefully Glen Grant will release a new batch at some point.
Photo: Master of Malt
