Every distillery has to find some kind of “uniqueness” to its whiskies, and Glengoyne have found just that in indicating that their malt is never dried with peat (but with air), so there is no peat whatsoever in their malt. As peat heads I’m not sure this is something to really be happy about, but I guess there is always room for non peated malts, and I am pretty sure other distilleries use malt dried with air and not peat, so basically It’s a nice trivia fact, no more. I’ve visited a few Glengoynes in the past (and also the excellent new CS , as well as the new 18). I really like the new packaging on the entire range, Looks classic, yet contemporary, and appealing, so great work there. these are the last 2 GG I’ve not reviewed and by posting those I guess the entire core range is covered here on the blog which is a great joy for me. so 12 and 15 it is, let’s go starting with the younger..
Glengoyne 12 yo, 43% , £36
Nose: malt , lemon zest, with a nice toffee and pear and apple combo, and milk chocolate aromas to it. rather sweet quite appealing. Nothing out of the extraordinary, but solid stuff going on here.
Palate: rather rich, even if not totally “smooth” with some rough edges to it. some nice sherry effect going on here, with rich toffee, dough
Finish : cocoa, milk chocolate, malt
This is a nice entry level malt, not bad at all, the nose is lovely, yet i find the palate a bit harsh and not rounded enough.
Score: 79/100
Glengoyne 15 yo , 43%, £44
Nose: Baked apples, some flower petals as well as cherries and vanilla, with gentle wood spice, and round sherry goodness. not much zest here as the 12 yo.
Palate: The palate is rounded and nice, fruit (apple, apricot), milk chocolate, cherries, and quite a bit of maltiness too.
Finish: Malt, gentle oak, and hints of milk chocolate.
Certainly a step up from the 12 year old, the palate is nicer and not as rough and the nose if just as good and deeper than the 12. All in all a decent malt for a decent price.
Score: 83/100
If i had to choose among those or the Cask Strength version , I’d go with the CS version for sure. It’s much deeper, intense, and lovelier than those two. You can’t go wrong with either , though.
Official samples provided by Glengoyne distillery