...where distraction is the main attraction.

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Glen Ord 21 year old 1990 Liquid Sun

I've tried a grand total of one Liquid Sun bottling in this life, but that was a 1989 Bowmore so that may not be the best example of a bottler's single cask skills. And, yes, two single casks are also too small of a sample size. The bad news is that Whiskybase shows no Liquid Sun bottlings since 2015. The good news is that Liquid Sun was actually just part of the larger The Whisky Agency company, which was still releasing single casks as of last year.

Those were all very important sentences. Now I shall drink the whisky.

Distillery: Glen Ord
Owner: Diageo
Region: Northern Highlands
Independent Bottler: The Whisky Agency
Series: Liquid Sun
Age: 21 years (1990 - 2011)
Maturation: refill sherry wood
Outturn: 189 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 49.7%
(from a purchased sample)

NEAT

Its nose and pale color announce this is a very refill cask. Stones and roses (Who wants to be adored?), citron peels and fresh laundry. Lots of apple cider. Liquid sun, indeed.

WOW, this palate is raw. I haven't used the word "austere" since December 2020, but I'll just quote my written notes: "Austere AF." Just burlap and minerals for a very long time. Then some baked apples and lemon juice drift through the background after a half hour.

Lots of heat in the finish, with tangy chiles, stones and apple skins offering cameos.

Let's see if diluting this thing wakes it up at all.

DILUTED TO 43%ABV

Now it noses of apples, yeast, peche lambic, citrons and sugary pastry.

The palate has become bitterer, with no less heat, and just a little bit more sweetness from lemon bars and meringue.

It finishes a bit sweeter too, but still mostly heat and pepper.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

That was one sleepy cask. They might as well have kept this spirit in steel. It's certainly not a modern malt, but it's also laborious to drink. As with Monday's Ord, the beauteous nose wins the day, but whisky is made for drinkin'. A little bit of water helps.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 81 (diluted)