11/04/2025 Glengoyne

Glengoyne b.2012 (58.7%, OB Cask Strength, Oak Casks, B#001, 39583): nose: this is very ester-y and pungent, displaying linoleum glue and solvents at first (Tableau sticky-label-removal spray comes to mind), with a soft whiff of orange zest. Then, freshly-polished wooden shelves appear, upon which rest open jars of dark set honey. Next are decorative pinecones, as dark and big as the redwood ones from northern California, sprayed with polish. Finally, marmalade on bread that has been toasted just a little too much and is therefore hardened, close to a Biscote. Wait! Even later, the nose has a note reminiscent of a dentist's waiting room! That may mean a combination of anaesthetics, tired plants, battered furniture and decades-old magazines, but they fuse into that very peculiar smell one is subjected to whilst waiting for one's yearly check-up. The second nose has drier, darker dusty wood, and maybe a dash of vin jaune, provided vin jaune can be served warm. Mouth: "it tastes like whisky," some might say. Indeed, it has something akin to the generic supermarket whiskies of the early 1990s, be that a note of caramel mocha, dusty placemats, or stale boozy marmalade. Chewing puts the emphasis on mocharamel, especially noticeable close to the tonsils, while the front teeth bask in marmalade. As for the area between them, it is cauterized by contact with a white-hot dusty boiler. The second sip has cracked black pepper on a honey glazing. What lies under that glazing is not clear -- a doughnut, perhaps? A caramel-and-mocha doughnut? Let us go with that. Finish: more of the same: dusty Moka pots encrusted with marmalade. It is both sweet and bitter, yet, if the sweetness clearly is associated with the caramel, the bitterness is closer to that of mocha. We find fleeting milk chocolate playing peek-a-boo too. Same story at second sip; caramel, then milk chocolate comes and goes, before hot metal and bitter mocha set up camp. Oh! it is hot alright. White-hot tine and dusty aluminium trays in which one bakes lasagna, for example. Pretty good. 7/10 (Thanks for the sample, red71)