Glenturret 29 year old 1989 Signatory, cask 235

Last Friday, I wrote about the 900000 series of 2005 Ledaig sherry casks of which Signatory held a significant portion. Signatory has also released eleven 1989 Glenturrets all aged in hogsheads numbered between 220 and 238, and all with very low ABVs between 42.4 and 46.5.

I have not enjoyed official Glenturrets and I'm very skeptical of cask strength whiskies whose ABVs have dropped so low, so today's whisky would seem like an odd choice for my tastes. But I have tried cask 233 from this series and I really enjoyed it. That one was bottled for Vine & Table in Indiana, this one was bottled for Whisky Club Luxembourg. Neighbors.

Distillery: Glenturret

Owner: Lalique Group

Region: Southern Highlands

Exclusive to: Vinothek Massen, Whisky Club Luxembourg and Whiskyexclusive

Age: 29 years (21 April 1989 - 14 March 2019)

Maturation: Hogshead
Cask number: 235
Outturn: 262 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 44.9%
Chillfiltered? No
Colorant added? No

(from a bottle split)

NOTES
The glorious nose is full of watermelon, kiwi, papaya, cucumber and fennel. Then some farm notes and cherry candy. A spring breeze across a meadow of wildflowers. There's a good balance of sweet and tart fruits on the palate, like limes, mango and kiwi. Then brown sugar and sour beer, as well. It gains minerals and a funky dunnage note after 30 minutes in the glass. It finishes with a light sweetness and gentle floral notes. Hints of limes, pineapples and bitter herbs.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Upon first sniffs, I had though there was a 92+ point whisky in my glass. Rarely would I describe a whisky's nose as beautiful, but that word fits here. The palate and finish were very pleasant, but also shallow and simple. One can't ask for this to have been bottled at a higher ABV at this same age because the whisky isn't watered down. Nor is it over-oaked. It is what it is after almost three full decades in a hogshead. Time steals many things, including a half dozen points from this whisky.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - I think it was less than €200
Rating - 87

Single Malt Report: Glenturret 10 year old (2014)

The Edrington Group has designated Glenturret distillery as the home of Famous Grouse blended whisky.  Thus one can go to Glenturret get The Famous Grouse Experience.  I reckon the cheaper path to The Famouse Grouse Experience is via a $20 liter bottle at Trader Joe's, but what do I know?  Glenturret distillery only produces 340K litres a year which is about 1/32nd that of Macallan, another ingredient in Famous Grouse.  I'm assuming they wanted to put The Macallan Experience at Macallan, thus had to stick the Famous Grouse Experience somewhere else and not disturb the exploited Nordic gods at Highland Park, so Glenturret it was.

Their marketeers claim Glenturret is the oldest distillery (est. 1775) in Scotland.  If so then why haven't they yet figured out how to make a functional 10 year old single malt.  Oops, I've already started spoiling my review.  Let me back up.  Florin (a prince) gave me two separate samples of his bottle of Glenturret 10.  I opened one of the samples for casual drinking and found the contents so mediocre that it left me craving Famous Grouse.  The second sampled served for this review.

Distillery: Glenturret

Owner: The Edrington Group

Region: Southern Highlands
Maturation: ???

Age: 10 years

Release Year: 2014

Alcohol by Volume: 40%
Chillfiltered? Probably
Caramel Colorant? Yup

NEAT
The color is orange gold, not exactly the most natural of hues.  The nose is bland young-blend-like spirity.  There are small notes of butter, flower blossoms, and tropical fruit flavored candy.  But the biggest notes are sulphur, burnt barley, and vanilla.  After 20+ minutes the sulphur recedes and paper pulp enters.  On the palate, there's a lot of ethyl heat covering up honey, white fruits, and vanilla.  Hints of cinnamon candy and notebook paper.  With time the honey note grows, crowding out the rest of the flavors.  The finish is also oddly hot, with hints of peach candy and vanilla.  It's quite sour and grows bitterer with time.

Maybe a little water?

WITH WATER (~35%abv)
Paper, yeast, and cinnamon on the nose.  Then honey, sulphur, and floral soap.  The palate has an awful entry, all bitter sour wort.  Then it suddenly gets aggressively sweet.  Plenty of vanilla.  The finish is bitter, short, and hot with a saccharine sweetness.

Maybe more?

WITH WATER (~30%abv)
The nose brightens up a little with roses, cherry lollipops, and simple syrup.  The palate is bitter and bland, mostly absent aside from some vanilla.  It finishes unpleasantly.

COMMENTARY:
This has me not only preferring Famous Grouse, but also Glenrothes(!).  That's how glum it is.  It's not a failed whisky, but there's nothing to recommend in it while neat.  Adding water is bad idea as well.  From the looks of most European online retail sites, this 10 year old has been phased out for a bunch of tarted up NAS releases.  Dare I say, that was a good idea.

Availability - Some European retailers. Probably not in the US (yay!)
Pricing - $30-$55
Rating - 68