...where distraction is the main attraction.

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Glengoyne Teapot Dram, Batch 007

Glengoyne, gettin' employees shitty since 1833.

Sold exclusively through the distillery itself, the Teapot Dram series celebrates the distillery's practice of doling out three rounds of cask strength sherry cask whisky to each employee on a daily basis until (allegedly) "the 1970s". My liver just vurped in my mouth a little bit.

These Drams are made up of nothing but first fill European oak oloroso cask fluids, unlike the official standard Cask Strength batches which are fashioned from a mix of casks. Somehow I've made it this far into my life without having a tot from this teapot, and now I'm going try the heaviest (59.9%abv) of eight batches so far. I've elected not to sip it from a teacup, sorry.

Distillery: Glengoyne
Owner: Ian MacLeod Distillers
Region: Highlands, but right on the border
Range: Teapot Dram
Batch: 007
Age: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Maturation: first fill European oak sherry cask
Outturn: 3993 bottles
Release year: 2019
Alcohol by Volume: 59.9%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Shoe polish, dried cherries and chile vapors start the nose off, followed by hot fudge, dried currants, vanilla bean and a hint of meatiness. The thick aggro palate goes heavy on the nuts and heat. It's slightly bitter with tart cranberries, and more figs than prunes. It finishes with mothballs, eucalyptus and Luxardo syrup, with a little bit of bitterness in the back.

DILUTED to ~43%abv, or >3/4 tbsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose gets closer to actual Oloroso here. No vanilla, less fruit, more nuts. Okay maybe some orange-coated dried cranberries. And cantaloupe. Oh but I think I killed the palate. It's vague, sweet, gingery and floral. Some of those orange-flavored dried cranberries show up too. It finishes peppery, tannic and sticky sweet.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I can't imagine working the kilns or operating direct-fired runs after three sloshes of this stuff without accidentally distilling myself. The whisky is a (lowercase) fireball when neat, then swims like a cinder block. (Perhaps it would have worked better at 48% or 50%abv, but I dropped it to 43 to match it with Friday's whisky.) Other than the fig note, the palate doesn't really do much that other A'bunadh-style NASers don't also do regularly and (to me) unspectacularly. The burly nose provides the most entertainment, so this Dram probably works best as a sniffer in a snifter.

Availability - via the distillery, but they're now on batch 8
Pricing - ???
Rating - 83 (neat only)