“Glen Keith” must be the least sexy distillery name in Scotland. At least it’s not Glen Kevin… He’s a big boomer boy, Keith, built in 1957 to produce 6 million litres a year for blends geared towards the American market (Chivas Regal, Passport and 100 Pipers Blends). Mothballed in 1999 and reopened in 2013. There are official bottlings, but mostly it’s a an independent’s game. And there seems to be lots of old stock. And some of its headed my way. One 26yo 10cl sample that I bought from BWH, and a 24yo 20cl bottlet that I got from Cadenhead’s in Edinburgh on a visit some time ago. The final review is now due for these two, yahoo.
Glen Keith | 26yo | 51.1% | Brühler Whiskyhaus
🌐
🪵
🔆
💲
🔗
Scotch single malt
two refill bourbon hogsheads
unchillfiltered & natural color
Sold out (~€180)
10 cl sample review
⚡Experience
A cavalcade of fruits (mandarin, apricot puree, poached pears), Turkish delight, candi sugar, oak and vanilla. A classic old-Speyside-bourbon nose. A bit boozy neat, but tempers with water. Palate: clean and creamy, sweetish with fruit compote, mille feuille, juicy oak, and lingering gooseberries.
💡Thoughts
Totally yummy, not too complex. Definitely my kind of dram. Although, I tend to like the style crispier, with a tad less vanilla and sweetness.
Rewarding
✔️
Glen Keith | 24yo (1998) | 53.0% | Cadenhead’s
🌐
🪵
🔆
💲
🔗
20cl bottle review
⚡Experience
Lusciously fruity (citrus/clementine, pineapple, crisp red apples), with an exotic and floral side. Vanilla pods and loads of oak, also on the palate. Succulent, juicy, classic long-aged ex-bourbon stuff.
💡Thoughts
It’s good, quaffable, and right up my alley. But it lacks its own identity vis-a-vis other old ex-bourbon Speysiders of the highest quality. For this reason I withhold the illustrious ❤️ mark, even though I do really enjoy this stuff.
Rewarding
✔️
This review is making me think that I should maybe diversify my scoring with an additional “Highly rewarding” mark (higher than “Rewarding”, but shy of “Personal Favourite”). One problem though is backward compatibility. And the original issue that lead me to a lean scale, namely of where to draw the line between R and HR, in this case. For sure the Cadenhead’s is HR, and the BWH is not so far behind – but does it just fall short of the HR line? I will ponder…
DuckDrams 
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