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Writer's pictureSean Kincaid

DarkCloud Whisky of the Year #3 Review


Glengoyne 25 Year

DarkCloud Whisky of the Year #3


Background

Matured in hand selected sherry casks.

Each Sherry cask takes a minimum 6 years from start of production before any Glengoyne spirit touches them.

Glengoyne has the longest distillation time of all scotch distilleries. They take 3 minutes for every single minute of the average distillation times in the industry.

Bottled at 48% ABV

As stated in my post announcing the top 5 whiskies of the year, Glengoyne is literally where my whisky journey started. It was the first distillery I ever visited and it left a huge impression on me. I wasn’t into whisky when I visited but it wasn’t much longer after that I did get into whisky and I have never looked back. When I decided to take whisky seriously, Glengoyne was where I looked first and used their core range to train my palate. When I wanted to buy my first “Premium” bottle, I looked at the Glengoyne 21 which is still a huge favourite of mine. I Was lucky enough to get this 25 year at a huge discount and jumped at the chance. This is sherried scotch at the pinnacle of taste and balance.


In the Glass

An orange brown colour that just looks “old” to me. Fairly transparent even though its a darker colour. A very oily nature to this liquid. The legs take forever to even form and then once they do, they stay extremely skinny and fall with a long lasting grace that just shows the elegance and age of this whisky.


Nose

This is a sherry bomb, BUT not in the way that most are thought of these days. This is a “balanced sherry bomb” as much of a misnomer as that is. This is creamy even on the nose. The classic aged sherry notes of leather, old wood, antique book stores, with a touch of creamy coffee and chocolate. This is clean sherry from high quality casks. No off notes or Sulphur are found. The deeper I dig into this on the nose I am finding some sweet apple notes, like the apple crisp filling. So fragrant but never overbearing and even smells oily. Over the Christmas holidays I poured a dram of this and spent probably an hour nosing it before ever taking a sip. It's that gorgeous of a nose.


Palate

The sweet sherry strikes immediately upon entry into the mouth. The lighter side of sherry fruit notes. A bit of cherry and even a touch of raspberry. The oak shows up in bunches next. Spice and cinnamon and tannins. What's weird is this hits my cheeks the same way some red wines do, by making my cheeks almost water and tingle with the tannins. As the tannins fade that fruit note returns, the easiest I can compare it is to the fruit on the bottom of a dark cherry flavoured yogurt. The darker notes come in next, some coffee, leather and dates with an almost fruit syrup note. The finish just adds to the aura of this entire dram. Long with dark fruits, the wood tannins and cinnamon style spice. Raisins and plums and dates and figs. Old dusty bookstores, and earthy chocolate and it goes on and on. God I love this whisky!!


Conclusion

There isn’t much that I could possibly add to this. This is the apex Glengoyne core range release for me. It's literally the perfect balance of distillate, age, casks, and abv. This is a desert island type of bottle. One that you could pick in that “one bottle only for the rest of your life” scenario people dream up from time to time. Glengoyne is known as “The most beautiful distillery in Scotland” and this is the most beautiful whisky produced by the most beautiful distillery in Scotland.


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