Glen Moray is a strange thing in the modern whisky world: a distillery that consistently releases decent and very inexpensive whisky. I recently reviewed a couple of their whiskies, the Port Cask Finish and Chardonnay Cask, and found them to be good drams for the price. The price being the key word here, for they were each less than £25 a bottle. The new Classic Sherry Cask Finish is no more expensive, coming in at £22. £22!
I wrote about Glen Moray’s background in March’s review, but suffice to say they’re a big operation, producing 3 million litres of spirit a year, and are owned by France’s second-biggest spirits group, La Martiniquaise. (I recently visited the distillery on the banks of the River Lossie for the Spirit of Speyside festival a little while back. It’s a very pleasant place – and they put on a good barbecue. It’s well worth a trip.)
The new Glen Moray Classic Sherry Cask Finish is a finish rather than full maturation in oloroso Sherry casks. The spirit has spent most of its life in American oak casks and then transferred to sherry casks for the final eight months. That sounds about right, as I suppose given Glen Moray’s light, delicate spirit, too much time in sherry could potentially be a bit overpowering.
Glen Moray Classic Sherry Cask Finish Tasting Notes
Colour: pale gold.
On the nose: youthful, subtle, creamy at first, but it very quickly opens up with plenty of toffee, dried apricots, sultanas. A touch of ginger. Glacé Cherries. Biscuits. Once the fruit fades there’s a pocket of grassiness.
In the mouth: It comes from a position of lightness and delicacy. Apricots and mango, almost tropical. Green apples. Grassiness. Hay barns. Green tea – sweetened with honey. Light brown sugar. Freshly baked bread. A slight woody note that nudges the finish into a slightly bitter territory, but those sweet, sherry qualities balance it out again. It shares a lot with the Port Cask finish and, although it isn’t as voluptuous, I actually prefer it.
Easy sipping in the sun. Panama hat pulled down across your eyes. Don’t think too hard.
Conclusions
£22! Glen Moray really are having a laugh at the expense of much of the whisky industry. Don’t let high price points trick you into thinking low-priced whiskies are bad. Far from it. The Glen Moray Classic Sherry Cask Finish is an affordable, elegant and well-made whisky. It is a perfect everyday drinker and is certainly my favourite of their entry-level drams.
Hi Mark, thanks for the review. I tried ‘Glen Moray Sherry Finish’ yesterday with water. Until recently I drank whisky without adding a dash of water, but now I’m coming around to the school of opinion that states that a dash of cold water releases the flavours and smells of the drink. I understand to some puritans this is considered sacrilege, but I think it’s wise to try all whisky neat and with water to make a decision. It’s been a while since I tasted this one, so sampled some neat and with water. I’ve tried the standard Glen Moray whisky and always found it to be a pleasant drink for the price. And the same if the this one, as you’ve noted. Being short on funds this year for Christmas, I bought my father the Glen Moray with peated infusion. He hasn’t opened yet so I’ve yet to sample it, but hopefully it’ll be up to usual standards set by Glen Moray within their attractive price range. Considering my favourite whisky’s are properly peated ones such as Ardbeg (probably my favourite whisky’s of all, and one that I discovered one a whisky trail before I became more well acquainted with whisky in general) and Laphroaig etcetera, so I look forward to trying the Glen Moray peated twist once the opportunity presents itself.
Hi Francis, thanks for stopping by and sharing that. The peated – if I recall – is along the same lines, which is to say a very pleasant dram and lovely value. Let me know how you get on when you try it.
Thanks for the review. I tasted all NAS Glen Moray whiskies. Shery Cask Finish is my favourite. Very tasty.