Glen Moray is a pretty straightforward, bourbon cask aged, Speyside single malt that doesn't hit you too hard with any particular flavor. It makes for a fair-priced crowd-pleaser or an easy stepping stone for someone looking to ease from blended Scotch into single malts.
Color: The color is right in the middle of the whiskey color range - not quite straw pale but not quite golden honey. The poet in me would say it looks like a wheat field at sunset in that it's light and grainy colored but with a splash of orange settling over it. Given that's it's only 12 years old I'm guessing this nice color is achieved by adding a bit of caramel coloring.
Nose: This Scotch has a pretty clean nose with just a hint of peat smoke as the first impression. The smokiness is like a clean backwoods creek in the morning - dew, damp earth, and just a hint of fish. There are also hints of honey, walnuts, caramel, and baked pie crusts tucked in here and they come out more when you add a bit of water.
Flavor: The Glen Moray 12 Year Old has a medium-rich body with flavors of honey, lemon candy, and something a bit grainy like raw sweet corn. After adding water it gets more buttery with butter cookie flavors similar to the pie crust aroma I picked up in the nose.
Finish: The finish of this 80 proof whisky is very smooth with no burn and a gentle fade from smoky to salty to earthy.
Overall, this is a straightforward, balanced, uncomplicated single malt that sips a lot like a good blended Scotch. It's not going to impress your peat-hound friends or anyone who likes a punch-in-the-mouth whisky, but if you want a nice single malt that will please a crowd it seems like a good way to go.
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3 comments:
Good appraisal. Here in the UK this is marketed as a budget single malt. It's a nice inoffensive easy drinking whisky at a very good price. I buy it quite often. I recently bought a 30 year old Glen Moray from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society - that was spectacular, but I could have bought four bottles of the distillery bottling for the same price
Got this as a Xmas gift and was very pleasantly surprised. Smooth, fruity with citrus notes, honey too,......not a long finish but a very nice, affordable single malt that delivers.
No doubt this is a cheaper single malt. In fact, it is the cheapest to be found in Australian bottle shops. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! The fact is it is pleasant, drinkable and great to share with your mates. Great review!
Keep on waffling,
Nick
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