Glen Garioch Founder's Reserve Review

Hi everyone,

I've got a possibly young NAS Highlander today. It's another distillery I've only tried one expression from, back when I was trying to tick them off.

I wanted to try this as it's a Highland malt at 48% (good on 'em), unfortunately when I looked on the back of a box (I didn't buy a bottle, notes are from a sample) it clearly says that the whisky is coloured.

Not sure who they aim this at, making it look craft and higher strength, then kicking us in the nugs.

Glen Garioch Founders Reserve 48%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Big and rich. Toffee, fudge, fruity with citrus and banana, banoffee pie, aromatic spice- Curry powder, nutmeg, some cinnamon.

Water: Seaside and watermelon but a little Feinty with some harsh spirit and cleaning fluid.

Taste: Gentle arrival. Lots of banana then more complex spice and floral notes, wild flowers, citrus, lemon, oak building with tannins, chocolate and cocoa powder. Quite oaky into the finish. A complex spirit.

Water: More fudge and toffee, banoffee pie. But still harsh oak and spirit building and into the finish.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Powerful oak and harsh tannins.

Ditch the colour! A complex seeming spirit, just a bit young. I imagine older versions could be good and I've heard good things about the vintage Sherry cask stuff.

67/100

Thanks for reading!

Review #321

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, I have never accepted free samples from anyone in the whisky industry, but have bought bottles or samples with my money, bringing a different set of biases. Also, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

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