The Glenturret Launches New Whiskies

Distilleries, Scotland, Spirit Reviews, Whisky

Scotland’s oldest working distillery, The Glenturret in Perthshire, has rebranded its whiskies with newly-designed bottles and a core range of four expressions plus two limited edition whiskies.

There’s been distilling at The Glenturret Distillery in Crief, Scotland, since at least 1763, making it Scotland’s oldest working distillery. That’s less than 100 years since the Great Plague of London, and today’s whisky makers are faced with a worldwide great plague, making it hard for them to launch new products in the traditional way, with an event in London or elsewhere, or at the distillery.

Near The Glenturret Distillery in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland — The Glenturret’s Beautiful Perthshire Setting

The Glenturret launched their new whiskies and new designs 2020-style, with several online events, enabling the distillery team to present their new whiskies remotely, while still getting the message across and having some fun, too. Tasting samples were mailed out in advance, and the events worked surprisingly well, the next best thing to enjoying a tasting at the distillery with the people who make the whisky.

Ian Renwick, The Glenturret's Distillery Manager — Ian Renwick, Distillery Manager

The Spirit of Glenturret

One of the Glenturret men at the launch was Bob Dalgarno, their Whisky Maker and the man responsible for these new expressions. Dalgarno only joined The Glenturret last year, and the new releases are his first chance to present his vision of The Glenturret, without losing touch with over 350 years of whisky-making tradition.

Bob Dalgarno, The Glenturret's Whisky Maker — Bob Dalgarno, The Glenturret’s Whisky Maker

The nosing and tasting began with a sample of the raw spirit, as it comes off the stills at 63% ABV and yet to be affected by any contact with the barrel. It’s a pungent and powerful aroma, already displaying some of the apple, toffee and spicy notes that ageing will further bring out. Dalgarno suggests using a splash of water before tasting, to bring the alcohol level down, which enables you to taste the flavours more accurately.

The Glenturret Triple Wood

The first proper whisky tasted is Triple Wood at 43% ABV, which Dalgarno suggests is a good introduction to The Glenturret style. Aged in bourbon barrels, American oak sherry casks and European oak sherry casks (hence the name), the different barrels affect the whisky in different ways.

On the nose the influence of the bourbon and the sherry provides a sweetness, while the European oak offers up some vanilla and ginger cake aromas. On the palate there’s a fresh and fruity taste, with apples and vanilla, and a definite spiciness by way of ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. The finish is amazingly smooth and quite sweet.

The Glenturret 10 Years Old Peat Smoked Whisky

‘I had a problem,’ Dalgarno says, ‘in that I was told that fans of peated whiskies didn’t think ours was peaty enough, while those who didn’t like peated whiskies thought ours was too peaty for them.’ His attempt to square the circle involved using different peats to see what effect they had on the whisky.

The result of his experiments is a 50% ABV whisky that’s been aged in European oak sherry casks. Smoke is definitely the first thing that hits you on the nose, and as I love both peated and unpeated whiskies, I was quite happy with the balance. On the palate the sherry casks provide some sweetness that offsets the smoke, and the whisky really fills and coats the mouth, with some vanilla and spice in there too. Dalgarno said he was also getting carbolic soap and menthol, tastes which eluded me and I suspect won’t be used much by the marketing team.

The Glenturret 12 Years Old

At 46% ABV, this shows that The Glenturret tends to favour slightly stronger whiskies. This is aged in European oak casks but ones that haven’t previously contained sherry. ‘It has a lovely autumnal colour,’ says Dalgarno, holding up his glass, and it does.

The nose is filled with a swirl of aromas – fruitcake, apples, sultanas, ginger and cinnamon. Dalgarno senses a sprinkle of walnut, too, and lemon tea, which sounds more agreeable than carbolic soap. On the palate there’s a honey sweetness, some fruity tastes, like apple again, and a hint of spice and sultanas.

‘I like the fruitcake element in this,’ Dalgarno says. ‘To me this is a whisky you could drink with cake in the afternoon. Why wait till the evening to enjoy a glass of whisky?’ As our tasting is taking place just after 4pm, who are we to argue? Only the cake was missing.

The Glenturret 15 Years Old

The final new Glenturret whisky in our tasting is a feisty 15-year-old at 55% ABV. Despite the high alcohol content, on the nose it’s remarkably smooth and instead of the alcohol you smell lemon zest, toffee apples, wood and spices. On the palate it’s still smoother than a 55% whisky has any right to be. It has a sweet and rich taste, with less wood influence but still lemon and spice.

The Glenturret Limited Editions

In addition to the four whiskies we tasted, which is the new Glenturret core range, the distillery has released two limited editions. These are a 25-year-old, limited to 204 bottles and priced at £980 (US$1,271), and a 30-year-old limited to 750 bottles at a price of £1,600 (US$2,000).