Glen Elgin 1998 18 Year Old Special Releases 2017

Tasting Notes

• Tasting notes by Billy Abbott (The Whisky Exchange)

  • Nose

    Apple boiled sweets, toffee apples and freshly sliced apples to start – a big bowl of appley flavour. Lemon and honey roll in behind that along with foam bananas and a touch of tangerine.

  • Palate

    Sweet and sharp at first, with candied lemons and sherbert. That steps to one side to reveal a pool of rich runny and crystallised honey surrounded by grippy apple skin. Darker woody notes appear around the edges along with a sprinkle of desiccated coconut.

  • Finish

    More honey is joined by nutty hints: almonds, almond skin and toffee-covered hazelnuts.

  • Comment

    I'm not sure what the pombe adds (if anything), but this had loads of fruit, with a tasty honey-and-apple core.

• Tasting notes from the producer

  • Appearance

    Pale bronze autumn sunlight.

  • Nose

    Mild, rich and sweet initially, with vanilla toffee giving way to leafy, green and herbal notes of fennel and fresh cut grass. The sweetness remains, moving through candied nuts to polished oak and sweetened cream. With time, it becomes a fresh-fruity aroma overall, with hints of orchard fruit, dried apple rings and baked apples joined by poached pears in a fruit salad that also features melon, orange, nectarine and banana with a crunch of sweet pastry. Water introduces a cooling, floral note, but the fruitiness remains.

  • Body

    Medium.

  • Palate

    Smooth and very sweet, A burst of sweetness washes over the palate, with traces of spun honey and honeycomb, followed by sour apples, oaky spice and brown sugar . The fruit stays centre stage, with icing sugar sweetness, butter and wood at the edges. The spice builds, with light cinnamon joined by dark clove and dried orange peel. Water calms the spice to reveal sweet notes of cream, sherbet and almond nuttiness, with orchard fruit and fruit jelly.

  • Finish

    Of medium-length, quite dry, with oak and woody spice fading to leave brown sugar and hints of anise. As the anise dies away, dried apples and spice reappear momentarily, before at last revealing sweet oak.