Glen Grant 1974 Duncan Taylor

Full details : Glen Grant 1974 35 Year Old Duncan Taylor for the Nectar, cask 16582, 168 bts

This 1974 Glen Grant was chosen by the attendants of the Duncan Taylor Masterclass at the Belgian whisky festival Spirits in the Sky to be bottled next (thus finding it superior to the Royal Lochnagar 1986, Macduff 1969, Glenlivet 1970 and Caperdonich 1972).

Of the three '70s Glen Grants I've tasted this week, this one is by far the most fruity with apple sauce and tangerines, honey, almonds and a hint of 'Plegde' (which used to be a brand of oak polish in Belgium, that my grandma used for polis her wooden table in the sitting room).

The delivery is mildly spicy, soft and creamy. Again the wonderful fruit tastes come to the fore: marmalade of apples, oranges, apricots, nectarines and dried prunes. Mid-palate it does show some wood, without - thankfully - becoming over-oaky.

The finish is long, spicy and drying.

It sounds a bit weird to call this one the 'least' of the three, considering that I gave them all eight stars. But the truth is, in my book they are one or two points apart. It is, however, safe to say that all three are very close and each and every one of them simply fantastic whisky. Get them if you can!

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