A Couple of Peated Glen Moray

When life gives you Lemons, make Lemonade. Right?

I was supposed to participate in a Glenmoray  tasting but due to some issues with delivery and timing, I was able to taste those only later on. But as they say, better late than never, and so I set to taste the peated spirit and the Peated Whisky (NAS) one after another (not in that order , of course). Glenmoray have been making some nice whiskies recently (the Port edition is just yummy, as well as the Chardonnay casks), how about adding some peat into the game? Why not I say.

Glen Moray Classic Peated,NAS, 40% abv , £25

Not a lot of info on this one, it must be quite young, and not sure how much peat remains after aging, the peated spirit is said to be peated to 18 ppm which is not a lot indeed, I guess the PPM here is measured before distilling and not after…

Nose: A rather restrained nose. don’t expect heavy peated notes here, but there is some peat for sure.  Peat smoke, tinned green olives , wood smoke , some  dampy casks (not a bad thing, mind you!) and  a certain fruity note too (pears, green banana).

Palate: Lovely peat smoke, a certain note that reminds me of dry fino sherry (not sherry cask but the fino itself) , pepper and spot. Very dry. A slight hint of vanilla.

Finish: Dry bitter oak. Hint of wood smoke. Yeasty malt.

Bottom line:

This is not the most complex of drams in the world obviously, but for 25 quid it is indeed a worthy dram, and offers a very good Value for your money, a nice peaty tang, and a very easy drinking experience with enough to get you interested. A good dram all in all.

Score: 83/100

Next I decided to try the peated spirit, which is the building block for the peated classic. Can’t make a whisky geek any happier than that, can you?

Glen Moray Peated Spirit, 69% abv , 18 ppm

Nose: Starting of with lovely yeasty feeling to it. Pears and sweet vanilla over wood smoke. Pepper, and kippers.

Palate:  Boom! it’s big, and bold and this is not very surprsigin at this high ABV. Big time peppery and peaty, touches of chilly spiciness with the sugars kicking in only later. Sweet popcorn , vanilla and a salty edge.

Finish: Salt,  pepper peat , chilly  and bitter sweet burnt sugar.very dry, ashy.