Glen Grant 18 (2017) Review

Hi everyone,

Remember that guy Jim Murray? Well, I haven’t taken the piss out of him in a while and its high time I do it again.

This won his ‘Best Scotch Whisky’ of 2017 and was the second best whisky IN THE WORLD (!) in 2017. Does that mean anything? Yes. The guy has tasted a lot of whisky and has a big impact in the whisky world.

For example, this Glen Grant sold out and then immediately shot up in price.

He gave it 97/100 points. That’s a high score, and reading some of his other Glen Grant reviews, he is clearly a fan. But then, I’m a fan of Ledaig and you don’t see me handing out 97’s all day. (although I do have some 93’s coming up, stay posted)

I am not a massive fan of Glen Grant. Where Jim seems to like light and delicate whiskies, I often find they are lacking one quality I often look for: Power.

But this one could perhaps make up for it in balance and complexity, so let’s see… Oh, and they put this fancy new bottle in a fancy big box and upped the price recently.

 

Glen Grant 18 Rare Edition 43%

Colour: Straw

Body: Light

Nose: Fragrant, floral and very natural. Delicate, malt, green apple, very fresh, some chocolate.

Taste: Great delicate arrival, then malt, oak and spice, chocolate, nice balance of earthy malt and freshness, a little spirit in the development and towards the finish (that's the purifiers talking I reckon).

Finish: Medium/Long length. Green grape and oily/chocolatey malt. A little ginger.

I can see why Jimbo likes it. It is balanced, there are nice flavours here but there’s that spirity note in the mid-palate that brings in out of balance and mutes any complexity, so it loses this some points there.

76/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #520

Whisky Network Review #613

Network Average: 74.6

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

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, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. 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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