We return to Elgin, in the heart of Speyside, to pay a visit to a distillery that is certainly not one of the most famous in Scotland but which does its work with dignity and has not completely lost sight of reality, since it maintains civilised prices and a very ‘honest’ approach to business. We like these things. Today we taste the youngest of those with stated age, a 12 year old matured exclusively in ex-bourbon casks and bottled at 43%.
N: the profile is fresh, very bourbonous: notes of banana, vanilla and icing sugar. It is not, however, a rich profile, but is somehow dry, thin, lean like Castillejo just arrived in Italy. So we would say porridge, with the raw material still clearly visible, naked. A not-so-slight cardboard note.
P: sugary and distilled, overall more convincing than the nose. The American oak’s share of vanilla and custard remains alive, with more banana and sugar. Sweetened lemonade – the entry of citrus helps to refresh and give balance. Yellow fruit, filtered apple juice.
F: not very long, not exciting, cream and yellow apple.
It’s not a bad whisky by any means, and it’s very competitively priced – though let’s be clear, it seems appropriate for the overall quality. This Glen Moray 12 is always a simple malt, pleasant, but never particularly exciting. It’s a bit like Cairo’s Torino, if you get my drift: they always do well in the league, but they always risk relegation and are only saved by the skin of their teeth. Ungenerous? Probably so, but only if you’re a Turin fan. 79/100.
Recommended soundtrack: Lous and the Yakuza – Amigo.
