Glen Moray 16 Year Old

The Glen Moray distillery lies somewhat hidden in the hills near Elgin. This Speysider – owned by the French company La Martiniquaise since 2008 – has quite a few expressions on the shelves, although the lion’s share of its 2.5 million liters per annum are used for blending. It is the fingerprint malt in the popular Label 5. I must confess that Glen Moray is not really on my radar, but it has surprised me in a pleasant way quite a few times. This 16 Year Old matured on bourbon barrels.

The nose offers a healthy mix of sweet malt and dried fruits. Think apricots and peach, but also dades and some sultanas. Soft flowery honey and lots of vanilla. Some eucalyptus and a hint of stale dark beer. The whole is more than okay, albeit somewhat simple. If you leave it to breathe for more than five minutes, you’ll get some surprising notes of roast beef…

The arrival is somewhat oily, even a bit meaty. The fruit is less prominent, although it remains very sweet. Some more vanilla and lots of caramel. The eucalyptus returns on the palate. The oak gives off some spices, but just a tad too much tannins from the second sip forward, making it slightly bitter.

The finish is not really long, again on a lot of sweet malt and dried apricots.

A fine malt, without being grand.

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