Glen Breton Rare 10 Year Old

This whisky is made at the Glenora distillery in Nova Scotia, in eastern Canada. It was the first Canadian single malt, but since then more malt whiskies have been produced and bottled by craft distillers.

Nose: Very light, floral (daisies mainly, along with other flowers), fruity, and clean. Fresh green apples, peaches, lots of honey, nectar, and some maltiness that is almost reminiscent of hay. It's a touch oily, which is by no means a bad thing - the oiliness reminds me somewhat of corn oil, though, of course, there's no corn in here. It's creamy, with a little bit of vanilla coming through. Some pine comes through as well, which wonderfully complements the rest of the nose. There's also a very light and slightly earthy edge sitting in the corner of this nose - it's fantastic. 90%

Taste: Light and clean still, with some pear and that hay-like malty character. It warms on the finish before the malt leads the way into the finish. It is surprisingly grainy, despite so much fruit on the nose. There is still a white-wine like feel to this whisky, with the fruitiness and grassiness - perhaps a light sauvignon blanc. It has a nice balance of light acidity which gives a nice bite. It's still quite oily, with good body - you can almost chew it. I do desire just a touch more sweetness, I think. 87%

Finish: Malt, once again with a hay-like character, and a feel of spice - but nothing specific emerges. Over time, some oak remains in the mouth. I find even a touch of minerals, similar to the aftertaste caused by calcium in hard water. There are still touches of floral notes as well - daisies. It has nice weight, and does entertain the mouth for some time. There are also some interesting vegetal notes of celery and starfruit that emerge after some time. 88%

Intrigue: it's quite good, and at first I didn't like the flavour profile at all when I first tried it. However, after some time with it I do appreciate it a fait bit. However, I do wish for a bit more depth in some of the elements, and a bit less in some, particularly the oiliness. However, I imagine, with a few more years the flavour would round out brilliantly. They have a few older versions that I haven't tried, including a 17 year old finished in icewine casks - that would be interesting. 85%

Weighting the nose 25%, taste 35%, Finish 15%, and Intrigue 25% the overall grade is 87.

*I realized I would never have time to upload all my Canadian whisky reviews to connosr properly, so I've been importing the tasting notes in bulk to expand the whisky base on connosr. For more info on the whisky (with simiklar tasting notes), see my post at whiskywon.wordpress.com/2014/04/…

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