Glenturret: The Exciting New Range

Words by Colin Hampden-White

There is now a crystal clear direction for one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland. Founded in 1763, Glenturret has had many owners, and in recent times was owned by the Edrington Group of Macallan fame. With the Macallan leading the way for Edrington and Highland Park also a favoured brand, one sometimes felt Glenturret was a little left behind. In 2018 the distillery came on the market and was bought by the Lalique Group with another independent shareholder.

It has taken a couple of years to perfect, but the resulting first-rate rebranding of Glenturret is complete with new style liquids to match. The new bottles and labels are very smart and clearly aimed at the premium and even super-premium markets. Fortunately for Glenturret, the liquid in the bottles lives up to the challenge set down by the chic packaging containing it.

Read on to find out more about the range:

Triple Wood

The range starts with a non-age statement: Triple Wood. It is a well-balanced, fruity whisky with a mix of casks used for maturation. Ex-bourbon and ex American sherry casks are used, which is quite normal, alongside European ex-sherry casks. This gives a great mix of vanilla and spice and has both sweetness and dry oaky notes in equal measure. At £49.95 it throws the gauntlet down to the premium market, and I’m sure the market will love it.

ABV: 43%
Size: 700ml
Buy here: £51.49

The Glenturret 10 Year Old

On to the age statements and we start with a 10 year old. With a peating level not quite as high as Islay expressions, but high enough for peat lovers, this dram is smoky and fruity, with touches of vanilla in the background. What makes this whisky intense and allows the transfer of flavour seamlessly is the higher than usual ABV of 50%. For a whisky towards the bottom of the range this is a great choice and continues to show the strong direction the brand has decided to travel.

ABV: 50%
Size: 700ml
Buy here: £50.95

The Glenturret 12 Year Old

From the 10 we move to a 12 year old. This is more of a traditionalist’s whisky. A classic blend of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks it is harmonious and gives lots of complexity. At 46% the flavour still has intensity but allows the complexity to shine. With lots of Christmas cake and buttery flavours mixing with fresh orchard fruits and ginger spice, this is sure to please.

ABV: 46%
Size: 700ml
Buy here: £75

The Glenturret 15 Year Old

After the 12 we come to a 15 year old. This takes off from where the 12 left us and turns it up a notch. With toffee apple and spicy flavours, and intense lemon on the edge of the palate, it has lots of flavour all delivered with a near cask strength ABV of 55%. A dram for those who like a little power and age.

ABV: 55%
Size: 700ml
Buy here: £120

The Glenturret 25 Year Old

Unusually there is no 18 year old, or even 21 year old. We jump straight to a 25 year old. With only 204 bottles produced, this is something special. It is very complex with aromas of soft oak and vanilla joined on the palate by sponge, Tarte Tartin and soft spices of cinnamon and touches of nutmeg. At 44.5% there is enough power to deliver the flavours, but it is gentle enough to let all of them shine. We’re moving into pricier territory here at nearly £1,000 RRP.

The Glenturret 30 Year Old

We finally come to the 30 year old. A grand old whisky that quite rightly tops the range. With tropical fruits, vanilla and more orchard fruits, and pears becoming distinctive, there is lots of fruit in this old whisky. There are also toasty oaky notes to balance the fruit and round off the dram. Oonly 750 bottles have been produced and priced at £1,600, this clearly opens the super-premium door, and runs through it with confidence.

ABV: 45.7%
Size: 700ml
Buy here: £1,600

Overall, the range of these expressions looks to offer something to all levels of whisky drinkers. There is a non-age statement, a smoky whisky, a traditionally-styled 12 year old and a near cask strength 15. It would be nice to see an 18 or 21, but the 25 year old certainly makes up for it. Between the 25 and the 30 year olds, there’s really something special. With the gaps in age statement, one feels there is more to come from Glenturret, and if they are anywhere near as good as the first offerings out of the stable, then there are exciting times ahead.

If premium whisky is your thing, then we have more whisky to salivate over. Tamdhu is also challenging the order of things and you can read about it here.

The Best Cocktails To Make With Macallan

Macallan have an extensive range and sitting at the core of the range are three twelve year old whiskies which all have a different twist on the core flavour that makes up Macallan. With these different flavours, it makes them ideal to compliment the three most made whisky cocktails. Not everyone is well versed in making cocktails and it’s easy to forget the simplest of ingredients if you are not using them regularly. Here we lay out the ingredients and method for making three classics which, once mastered, will give you and your friends endless, delicious pleasure.

The Old Fashioned

Old Fashioned

Ingredients

Pinch of brown sugar

1 strip of orange peel

Splash of water

2 drops of bitters

50ml of Macallan 12 year old sherry cask

For this classic cocktail we would suggest the Macallan 12 year old Sherry cask. Classic cocktails, plus classic Macallan is the perfect mix. This cocktail lets the whisky shine, with little other ingredients to get in the way of all that Christmas cake flavour, this cocktail is brilliant, especially if you like soft spices and sweetness all balanced and warming.

Method: Place the sugar, orange peel, water and bitters in a tumbler and muddle (crush gently with the back of a spoon). Fill the glass with ice and add the whisky. Stir, and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Tip: If you pour in the bourbon bit by bit allowing it to chill slowly and soak up the flavours of the bitters and sugar without diluting quickly, the experience will be more intense.

Whisky Sour

Whisky Sour

Ingredients

50ml of Macallan 12 year old Triple Cask

25ml of lemon juice

Splash of water

Pinch of sugar

The whisky sour is probably the simplest of the whisky cocktails beyond a highball. To balance the lemon you need a whisky which isn’t going to let the lemon take over and also helps with some complexity. We think the Macallan 12 year old triple cask does the trick. With its mix of European and American oak ex sherry casks and American ex bourbon casks, there is plenty of complexity and smoothness to balance the bitterness of the lemon.

Method: Simply place the ingredients in a tumbler filled with ice, stir, and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Tip: Put the sugar in bit by bit after the other ingredients and taste as you do so to get the cocktail to just the right level of sour sweet balance for you.

Rusty Nail

Rusty Nail

Ingredients:

3 parts Macallan

1 part Drambuie

This cocktail is one of Colin’s favourites. It’s the simplest to make and is like an iron fist in a velvet glove. It is all alcohol so be careful with this one, but it is also a real sweety. If you like sugar and spice and all things nice, then this is definitely for you. We like the Macallan double cask for this one as the mix of ex sherry casks and ex bourbon casks can really shine through with just one other ingredient in the glass.

Method: Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake vigorously, and pour.

Tip: Make sure to fill the cocktail shaker with ice. The more ice will actually create less dilution, and chill the cocktail more quickly. 

Macallan 12 Triple Cask: UK £125 // US $74.99

We hope this article helps clear the memory blank and keeps your cocktail enjoyment ticking along. For more Macallan check out Helena’s ‘Mac-Hattan’ for a great twist on the American cocktail.

Move over Macallan! It's Tamdhu time...

Words by Colin Hampden-White

Gordon Dundas of Tamdhu runs through the character of the whisky.

Tamdhu is a whisky worth discovering…

There is a penchant for Scotch whiskies having been matured in Sherry casks and Macallan has been the brand to buy. It is difficult to find whisky which has been completely matured in sherry conditioned casks and not just finished in sherry casks, or blended with casks of other types. There is however a brand with whom you can be sure that the 100% of the whisky has been matured in sherry casks: Tamdhu. If you are a Macallan fan,you are going to love Tamdhu.

More than just sherry casks

Tamdhu believe that a wide range of casks gives them plenty of options to create great whisky. They use a mixture of American oak and European oak sherry casks. Their sherry casks are conditioned in Jerez for the whisky industry and nearly all of those casks are created using American oak. Tamdhu, however, also have casks created using European oak and conditioned for them. What this gives them is the ability not just to create more complex whiskies, but also to bottle single casks matured in both American oak and European oak. This gives us an interesting insight into the differing flavour profiles of these two types of oak.

The Tamdhu range is growing

Tamdhu until recently had a 10 year old in their line up. This has now been upgraded to a 12 year old and the strength increased from 40% to 43%. They have a 15 year old at 46% and they say that in a couple of years, an 18 year old will be added to their line up.

The whiskies are blended from casks of both first fill and second fill American and European oak and the casks are of differing sizes. It is unusual in this day and age to see a whisky brand increasing the age statements of their whisky rather than decreasing them or moving to non age statements. Not that Tamdhu don’t do non age statement whiskies; they have a limited batches of cask strength none age statement whisky, which is now on batch four.

What can one expect when trying Tamdhu?

The 12 year old is rich and remarkably smooth at 43%. One can sip it over time or just as easily add water or a mixer and drink in long. It is versatile; a whisky which is difficult to get bored of. At the other end of the spectrum, the single casks are big bold whiskies, especially the European oak whiskies, which have the typical fruit cake and demerara sugar dominant flavours, with added spices to keep the palate lively and fresh. The American oak single casks still have dried fruit flavours, but they tend to be stone fruits such as apricots and there are core flavours of vanilla and dedicated coconut so often associated with American oak. The two casks I tasted recently, cask 2986 American oak Cask at 56.2% and 2014 European oak cask at 58.9% typified the two flavour profiles and are deeply satisfying whiskies. If your budget can stretch to a single cask bottle though, I’d thoroughly recommend buying one. At a more affordable level, if you are looking for cask strength whisky, then at £65 the limited batch number four is a cracking dram. It can be found at the House of Malt. If you like Macallan, or any whiskies matured in ex Sherry casks, then I think Tamdhu is a whisky you should add to your list, and once you’ve tried it, I think it will stay on your list forever.

I love this limited release batch strength Tamdhu:

ABV: 57.8%

Size: 70cl

Buy now for £68

The incredibly drinkable and fruity 12 year old can be found at The Whisky Exchange:

ABV: 43%

Size: 70cl

Buy it now for £44.99

And my favourite, the single cask American oak offering can be found at The Whisky World:

ABV: 56.2%

SIze: 70cl

But it now for £449.90

For more on brilliant whisky that’s blended rather than a single malt, have a read about the great lesser known Johnnie Walker whiskies