Right. Many people know me to be a massive Glen Moray fan. But strangely, though, more than two years in this blog, I still haven’t reviewed any on those pages. My love for this distillery is to be honest quite recent. It wasn’t really on my radar before Spirit of Speyside 2019, when with my friends we booked three events over a week there, the first one being a tour of the distillery with their brand ambassador, Iain Allan, and a handful bottle at the end of the tour, after a tasting. The second event was for may the 4th, a Star Wars-themed event, but Iain again in his element (a Stormtrooper costume), where we had a face-off between official and SMWS Glen Morays. The third event was a bit different, as it was the Closing Ceilid’h of the Spirit of Speyside Festival and quite a great party. There, I discovered great and affordable whiskies, with three handfill casks always available with a great selection and fantastic price range, and people absolutely lovely. I made friends, people I still talk to quite often, two years later. They even talk to me back and not just ignore me! I’ve been wanting to write some articles about Glen Moray bottling for a long time but never took the time to do so. It’ll come. The Cask Projects (or curiosities), with their infamous Cider cask finish. The Warehouse 1 releases. Lots of bottle-your-own. Old distillery exclusives… But that will have to wait. Tonight, I’m reviewing a Glen Moray 27yo bottled by Chorlton Whisky.
Glen Moray 27-year-old Chorlton Whisky Review
This is an indy bottling I failed to buy when it was released. A 27-year-old single cask Glen Moray that was sold for just £115, imagine that. But since there were only 130 bottles, they sold out so quickly I hadn’t had time to order one and I was very sad about it. By chance, since then, a friend sold me his open bottle at cost, and there’s even a sample of it in my advent calendar today. Back to the whisky, it was matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead before being bottled au naturel, at cask strength, without chill filtration nor addition of colouring. If you want one now, a few shops sell it between 220 and 230€ (no shame), or you’ll have to have some luck at auction.
Colour:
Light gold
Nose:
This is a citrus bomb at first. Lemon juice, oranges, a few drops of grapefruit juice. Once you get past the citrus notes, you’ll find pine needles, some herbal notes, melon, and something slightly sour. Liquorice and crème fraîche.
Palate:
Fresh and citrusy arrival. Lemon juice again, grapefruit, a pinch of salt, sparkling lemonade. There is quite some wood, as the cask imparted those notes over the almost three decades of maturation. On the palate this is quite light-bodied, maybe even more than what you’d expect at 44.6% abv. Peppery spices, but also some fruity sweetness, like peach and pear dusted with icing sugar.
Finish:
Pepper, citrus, oak and that slight saltiness again, medium length.
Comments:
This is quite different from what I was expecting. The nose is very citrusy and you have to work past that to get to the other aromas. It makes, on the nose alone, for a quite summery dram. The palate is good but I was hoping for more. It lacks a bit on the mouthfeel, I would have liked a less lighted body. This is quite good, but then again, at that age, I would have expected more layers, more complexity, more flavour. At its initial price, this was still quite a fantastic value, for an almost three-decade-old Speysider. At double that now, however, I’d want more for the price. Still an excellent whisky anyway.
