Glengrant Comes of Age, There's an 18 Year Now!!!

It's always nice to be able to have the odd tipple or two before noon, it gives life such a holiday feel, so I was quite happy to attend the Glen Grant Media launch at 11am one fine morning, at the Westin KL, upon the kind invitation of Tim Chew of Malaysia's Hottest Blogger fame.

The event was actually to showcaase the latest premium offerings of Glen Grant’s finest, which now includes The Major’s Reserve, 10 Year Old, 12 Year Old, 18 Year Old and a selection of limited edition bottles; Gracing the event was Glen Grant’s award-winning Master Distiller, Dennis Malcolm, who has been with the distillery over 50 years.

According to Dennis, who is the longest tenured Master Distiller still in service in Scotland, “We are delighted to launch our new range of aged products and unveil our brand new, contemporary logo and packaging. Glen Grant has made a significant investment in its production within the worldwide luxury whisky market to meet the increased consumer appetite for premium whisky with a rich background. We are extremely proud of our new look which perfectly represents the passion, craftsmanship and family heritage of Glen Grant, while staying true to our Scottish heritage. We are confident that through our unique quality and history, our new aged range of products will prove extremely popular with our consumers.”

It was interesting to see the signficance behind the new Glen Grant logo, which is the Grant family monogram, with the letters ‘J’ ‘R’ and ‘G’ delicately intertwined in a timeless design. ‘J’ for James ‘The Major’ Grant and ‘R’ for his first wife Rose, emphasising the deeply rooted family heritage which helped to produce one of the world’s finest single malt Scotch whiskies.

A video sequence of the "launch" would probably have been better, but anyway, there you have it, the unveiling of the 18 years and ahem, again, we were the first in the country and apparently in the region, to have a taste of this glorious nectar of the gods.

There's always a palpable sense of anticipation when you see one of these tasting sheets...

We start with the 10 year old....

The 10 Year Old – Golden in colour, the 10 Year Old lingers in the mouth with a soft almond finish. For the last four years, the 10 Year Old has won the “Best Single Malt Scotch: 10 Years and Under” category award in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible. In addition to this, in 2015 the 10 Year Old also took home the guide’s top honour for single malts by winning overall Single Malt of the Year (Multiple Casks).

The 12 Year Old – A bright, golden colour and pleasant aromas of orchard fruit, almond and citrus, , and on the palate notes of apple pie crust and caramel, finishing with lingering fruit and subtle hints of spice. The 12 Year Old was recently awarded the IWSC GOLD 2016, Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Speyside, 12-13 Years Old.

The 18 Year Old – The rarest in the collection is the new Glen Grant 18 Year Old. This unrivalled single malt Scotch whisky matures for at least 18 years in the highest quality, handpicked oak casts, which creates a radiant golden colour and seductive floral and oaky aroma. Deeply layered and complex, this rich and vibrant whisky delivers beautifully intricate flavours of malted caramel, vanilla, and raisins and lingers with a long, sweet and pleasantly spicy finish.

And there you have it, the trio of a fine drop.

According to Malcolm, the casks in the distillery are only used a maximum three times.  The 15 year old which  no longer in production to make way for the 18 year old.  Quite interesting, that story as to why only now they are producing an 18 year old.  Although the distillery itself is old, it was recently (by recently I mean in 2006 or so??) by Campari, and there was some complicated clause regarding the age of the whiskies that could be kept.

For more information, please contact:

Shahlini T.Arasu
(email) shahlini@gmail.com (mobile) 012 334 3042

Susy Lee
(email) susyssl@gmail.com (mobile) 012 378 2243

Rise of the Guardians... of Glenlivet, Or Specifically, Glenlivet Alpha

I received a rather strange invitation awhile back, which I am rather glad didn't accidentally slip into my spam folder.  Albeit very short notice, what attracted me were the words, Guardians of Glenlivet.  It is no secret that I love Glenlivet, (along with a few other glens), so I was intrigued by the invitation, and could not resist attending this mysterious function, that sounded like an underground cult, or the knights templar guarding the holy grail.

This was not the first of such events, and I was privileged to be "initiated" into this coterie of single malt aficianados, though I myself, whilst enjoying the taste, can hardly claim to be one myself.  The invitation enigmatically stated,  “An Evening In The Dark With The Glenlivet”, at the newly opened Barn Thai (yes, people who used to party in the 90s, Barn Thai is back!).  At first I thought it was one of those dining in the dark experiences.

Guests who attended were blindfolded, engaging all their senses as they were poured surpriseStar of the night,  The Glenlivet Alpha. Housed in a striking black bottle, only 3,350 bottles of The Glenlivet Alpha has been crafted in secret by Master Distiller Alan Winchester at The Glenlivet Distillery in the heart of Speyside and is released with no cask information, tasting notes or age statement. And of which, only 40 bottles are allocated to the Malaysian Market.

 Our host for the night, Lionel Lau, (who I found out was the man behind my invitation) enlightened us on some Glenlivet information, and told us that we would be blindfolded, and handed a glass of this mysterious whisky, and we are to use all our other senses to pick up whatever flavours and subtleties we could.

The good thing about using a point and shoot, you can literally point and shoot, even blindfolded, as you can see from my fairly decent blindfolded selfie.
It was all quite fun.  We were to hold out our right hand, so that the servers could slide the glass into our hands, and we were to sniff, and twirl, and smell, and sip, .... and give our thoughts.  My first thought was, WOW, it's strong! I like.

The food was obviously secondary, and most attention was focused on the star of the night, and the other supporting cast, which were also great.

On a day when the Glenlivet Alpha is not available (read, every day la), these babies would do quite nicely.

By this time, we were privvy to the information that there were only 40 bottles of these, available only for Guardians (you had to sign up and sign in blood to become a guardian), priced at RM868.  Of course, the kiasu in me leapt at the opportunity of owning something that only 39 others in Malaysia might own.

Taste wise, it has all the usual spice, fruits associated with a good single malt, but it also packs a punch with its high alcohol content.  Well, priced at RM868, I guess it makes sense to reach a high as soon as possible.
Aneeways, look what arrived yesterday, finally....

Beautifully veiled, like a bride (okay, maybe not in black dress..  a merry widow perhaps).... waiting to unveil...

Tah da.  Don't be calling ME anytime soon to share this... I am saving it for a VERY special occasion.

I won't bother telling you where to buy it, coz ....smug look, YOU CAN'T!! (well, not from the primary market in Malaysia at any rate).