Glenglassaugh Distillery has relaunched its core range with three coastal single malt whiskies — 12 Year Old, Sandend and Portsoy. Build in 1875 Glenglassaugh has been one of the hidden gems among Scotch whiskies, due to the fact that they used to supply their precious malts to blenders and only do some rare official bottlings.

Created by master blender Rachel Barrie, this new core range showcase different aspects of the Glenglassaugh distillery character, drawing inspiration from the local landscape and beautiful Sandend Bay. With the new core range Glenglassaugh also renewed their bottle and label design to make sure to offer coastal and tropical character not just to the whisky enthusiasts’ palates, but also to the eyes.

Glenglassaugh 12 Year Old (Single Malt Scotch, 45% abv)

The flagship single malt of Glenglassaugh, this 12 years old Single Malt aged in a combination of bourbon, red wine and sherry casks and bottled at 45% abv. This bottle is the first whisky from the distillery with an age statement.

Nose: Starts quite fruity and bright with mango, red berries, coconut, apricot and orange. Followed by milky chocolate, salted caramel and hints of charred oak. Sweet and easygoing.

Palate: Similar with the nose tropical and red fruits makes the first layer of flavours. Followed by burnt wood and salted caramel with some wood dryness. Initially quite sweet and oily, gets drier and tannic afterwards.

Finish: Medium length finish with nutty, chocolaty and slightly salty notes.

Glenglassaugh 12 Year Old is a very approachable and easy to sip single malt with decent amount of complexity. I very much enjoyed the balance between tropical, salty and winey aromas.

Rating: 85

Price at the time of tasting: £49.50 – Available at whiskyexchange.com

Glenglassaugh Sandend (Single Malt Scotch, 50.5% abv)

Aged in a combination of bourbon, sherry and manzanilla casks, Glenglassaugh Sandend bottled at 50.5% abv.

Nose: Tropical fruits, citrus, walnuts and chocolate notes with vanilla ice-cream, grape skins and hints of salt aromas. Elegant, complex and well-balanced.

Palate: Quite mouth-coating with mango, pineapple, peach, butterscotch, honey and a touch of salt. Followed by ginger, orange peel, pepper and gentle oak. Very pleasant. Great mouthfeel.

Finish: Medium length finish with tropical fruits, salted caramel, ginger and oak.

Glenglassaugh Sandend is a complex yet quite elegant and balanced expression with the distillery character as well as some sherry and manzanilla casks effect. I especially loved the multi-layered nose and mouth-coating texture at the palate.

Rating: 85

Price at the time of tasting: £53.95 – Available at whiskyexchange.com

Glenglassaugh Portsoy (Single Malt Scotch, 49.1% abv)

Aged in a combination of bourbon, sherry and port casks, Glenglassaugh Portsoy showcase a more rugged side of the distillery with its peaty character. Highland peat used in the malting process and careful cut points after the distillation offers a more gentle peaty style.

Nose: A nice balance of tropical fruits, salted caramel and sweet peat. Followed by wood smoke, black pepper, spices and interestingly shaving foam.

Palate: Peatier compared to the nose. Smoked meat, charred pineapple, dark chocolate and salted caramel.

Finish: Medium length finish with black pepper, wood smoke and ash.

Glenglassaugh Portsoy offers a softer style of peat with an approachable and easy to sip character. I found it a little less complex compared other two expressions in the range, still very enjoyable dram.

Rating: 83

Price at the time of tasting: £58.75 – Available at whiskyexchange.com

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