Today's tasting is from a distillery introduced to me from a great whisky friend Jeffrey. I can remember the first time I tried the 25 year old OB version that he very generously shared with me that made me fall in love with Glen Ords. The flavours of dirty waxy/oil, fruits and floral notes is what I have found amazing in Glen Ords and I greatly look forward to trying today's dram. Today's tasting is from a freshly opened bottle so I shall try to see how the flavours change/develop every 10 minutes. Now on to the tasting!
Initial Nose: Violets, lemon rind, wax, diesel oil, cream, light pepper, orange zest, really beautiful combination of flavours that has a effervescent characteristic
Nosing after time:
(t=10mins) Cream, bananas, canned pineapples, syrupy mangos, hint of smoke, really juicy yellow fruits
(t=20mins) lemon sweets, mandarin oranges, slight smoke/ash, pineapples, fruity notes are still there but more balanced and not as intense. The citrus notes are now more apparent
(t=30mins) oily caramel sweets, milk chocolate, ripe peaches, pear, red apples, really nice waxiness, slight spice
Palate:
(t=0mins) Waxy, dirty engine oil, spices, clove, cinnamon, saltiness, oranges
(t=10mins) Wow flavours really intensify, spices with burst of fruits, peaches and mangos, salt comes forward
(t=20mins) slight pepper, slight spice, really nice cream
(t=30mins) Waxy, light pepper and salt, back to engine oil and spices,
Finish:
(t=0) Creamy waxy mouthfeel with mangoes,
(t=10mins) Slightly drying, mouthfeel still remains creamy but the salt now becomes more prominent
(t=20mins) Finish goes into milk chocolate and still drying.
(t=30mins) Interestingly more fruit notes are coming forward and almost candy sweet at the end
Wow this is an exceptional dram. The complexity is not only greatly enjoyable but the changes over time make me love this Glen Ord even more. This dram was a combination of oil/wax, fruits, salt which create an amazing combination. Despite the absence of floral notes in the palate there is more than enough flavours to keep this dram interesting and enjoyable. Definitely one of the top Glen Ords I have ever tried.
Glen Ord 31 (Cadenhead) 1983
Glen Ord (1983, 31 Years, Bourbon Hogshead, ABV 51%)
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