Today’s tasting goal is simple: to etch the particular character of grain whisky so deep into my conscious that I’ll never mistake a single malt for grain (or vice versa) in a blind tasting ever again! Well, we’ll see how that goes. Usually, on the unusual occasion that I drink single grain, it’s in the 25-50yo range. (Note: grain takes a lot longer in cask than malt to acquire a mature profile). Recently I very purposefully bought a bunch of young grain samples, which I reasoned should be more distinctly grainy. I have a few samples to get through, so let’s get on with it.
Girvan | 10yo (2010) | 46% | Murray McDavid
🌐
Scotch single grain
🪵
first fill Koval four grain finish
🔆
unchillfiltered & natural color
🪙
€40
from a 5cl sample bottle
🗒️Tasting notes
Nosing: First impression boozy (cleaning product, fresh laundry) and wood (pine, oak). After the nose opens up, more nutty (almond cake), spicy/fruity (dried ginger and bitter orange) and bourbony. With a great deal of time in the glass prominent candy notes appear (marshmallows, gummy bears).
Sipping: The palate is on arrival sweet and creamy, with a growing spiciness; grassy, peppery, and boozy. Some toasted oak. Towards the end I perceive it as much drier than initially.
💭Thoughts
I’m certain I would recognize this as grain whisky in a blind test. The bourbon cask does some good work for the nose, though.
Price seems to be around €40 in Germany, but the cheapest posting is only €32. One can get a Glencadam 10yo for €35-40, so . But for variety, and exploration (and for the right set of tastebuds) I think think the price proposition here is entirely fair.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Value for money
Verdict
🔴🟡⚫
⚫🟡⚫
⚫🟡🟢
A perky grain at a good price
North British | 13yo (2007) | 50.0% | Murray McDavid
🌐
Scotch single grain
🪵
first fill Murca tawny port finish
🔆
unchillfiltered & natural color
🪙
€50
from a 5cl sample bottle
🗒️Tasting notes
Nosing: Again a boozy impression (hand sanitizer), and a somewhat closed one until oxidation has done its magic. Then, musty notes (sweet wine, slightly rancid butter, old kitchen cloth) and strong wood associations (saw dust, wood glue, vanilla). Some berries can be teased out (gooseberry, black currant).
Sipping: Medium sweet, just a bit salty palate that with estery fruits (banana, strawberry), lots of port wine, and some white chocolate. More convincing than the nose. Foamy candy lingers in the finish.
💭Thoughts
Not so good, too much port for my taste, and the grainy notes are a bit offputting. Nonetheless, it was fun to tease apart this rather un-single-maltey sample.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Value for money
Verdict
🔴🟡⚫
⚫🟡⚫
🔴🟡⚫
Musty non-must-have
Port Dundas | “Ghost of the Hill” | 17yo (2006) | 54.6% | Brave New Spirits
🌐
Scotch single grain
🪵
First-fill Lafite wine barrique
🔆
unchillfiltered & natural color
🪙
€95
from a 5cl sample bottle
🗒️Tasting notes
Nosing: Less boozy/detergent-y than the previous two, but rather closed and in need of water. Grassy, earthy, and woody, some impressions of the wine cask, and various other notes (slightly cheesy, burnt sugar, toasted oak, touch of citrus, rosemary).
Sipping: Sweet, cheesy, biscuity flavours. The alcohol is not too jarring even neat.
💭Thoughts
A much more coherent overall experience than the previous two. Not super spicy, not a very plastered-on cask flavour. The price is quite unrealistic given the single malts one can get in this range, but I’d say this is tastier and more interesting than at least some single malts at €40-60.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Value for money
Verdict
⚫🟡⚫
⚫🟡⚫
🔴⚫⚫
A good ghost on a steep price-hill
Cameronbridge | 13yo (2010) | 56.9% | The Old Friends
🌐
Scotch single grain
🪵
first fill Spanish red wine
🔆
unchillfiltered & natural color
🪙
€69
from a 5cl sample bottle
🗒️Tasting notes
Nosing: A very prominent note of juniper wood, with some other woodsy and spirit-y notes (clove, wood glue, felt-tip pen), and sweeter aspects (fresh cookie dough, bubble gum). With some oxidation, not shy on the citrus either.
Sipping: Sweet and sticky palate, with an unmistakable cloves-in-orange, gingerbread dough flavour; strong Christmas associations (despite a wine rather than sherry cask). More like limoncello in the finish.
💭Thoughts
It’s a bold whisky, with lost of weird and interesting aspects to explore. The impressions do not meld into an elegant and unusually delicious whole, but it’s a nice and fun experience nonetheless.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Value for money
Verdict
⚫🟡⚫
⚫🟡🟢
⚫🟡⚫
Christmas is here but Santa’s an alcoholic
Invergordon | 15yo (2007) | 58.5% | A.D. Rattray
🌐
Scotch single grain
🪵
bourbon hogshead + 3 years finish in “Cask Islay Sherry Edition” barrique
🔆
unchillfiltered & natural color
🪙
€68
from a 5cl sample bottle
🗒️Tasting notes
Nosing: outdoorsy (green grass, flint, iodine), fruity (citrus, green apple, plum juice), and funky (creamy blue cheese). Some buttery vanilla too.
Sipping: not particularly grainy, or maybe I’m just succumbing to the peat. Sweet pears, apples and ashy peat.
💭Thoughts
I guess an ex-peated whisky cask was used here [yes, I am correct!] and to good effect. I have had very reliably good experiences with A.D. Rattray. In my book, a top-quality IB.
Deliciousness
Fun factor
Value for money
Verdict
⚫🟡⚫
⚫🟡⚫
⚫🟡⚫
Unusual combination of peat and grain that works well.
There we have it. Not terribly impressing but quite fun. I would say more or less all the way through here, we’re paying more for less as compared to malt, unless one somehow particularly likes grain character (the boozy, woodsy, funky triad), or wants a distraction from malt. So do I feel more confident now identifying grain? Yes, in most cases there was a strong non-malt signal, either distinctly grainy, or just unusual. But powerful and unusual cask choices can also confound the assessment in a blind tasting. We’ll see in a couple of month how I fare with the Christmas calendar blind tasting!
DuckDrams 
Leave a comment