The Glen Garioch 18 Year Old is the elder statesman of the distillery's modern core range, sitting above the 12 and the 15 Sherry Cask. Matured in a combination of first-fill bourbon barrels and Spanish oak sherry casks, it is bottled at 46% ABV and presented without chill filtration or added colour — a small but meaningful concession to the way many drinkers now prefer their malts served.
Glen Garioch (pronounced "glen geery") draws its water from springs in the Percock Hills above Oldmeldrum and uses lightly peated Aberdeenshire barley in its mash. Since 1995 the distillery has run on bought-in unpeated malt, so all current age-stated releases reflect that cleaner, more fruit-driven house style. The 18 Year Old shows the spirit at the point where bourbon vanilla and sherry fruit have settled into a pleasing equilibrium without the oak yet asserting itself.
Founded in 1797, Glen Garioch is older than the 1823 Excise Act that legalised most of the Scotch whisky industry as we know it. The distillery survived closure in 1968, was reopened in 1973 by Stanley P. Morrison and has been part of Suntory's portfolio since the mid-1990s. The current 18 Year Old, in its tall clear bottle, is the considered, age-stated face of all that history.
It rewards a slow pour and a quiet hour. East Highland malt at its most contemplative.
