Glen Ord has been distilling on the Black Isle since 1838, and for most of its life its spirit travelled anonymously into blends. Only under Diageo's Singleton banner, launched in 2006, did the distillery acquire a consumer identity of its own, and that identity was aimed principally at the Asian market, where it became one of the best-selling malts in the region.
The 18 year old is the considered expression of the range. Where the 12 year old courts the newcomer and the 15 adds a little more muscle, the 18 stands as the house's mature statement — the product of longer engagement with European and American oak in Diageo's carefully managed warehouses.
Time tells on the palate. The orchard fruit of the younger Glen Ord expressions has dried into sultana and fig; the honey has darkened into treacle; the oak has moved from a background polish to a structural element. What remains constant is the distillery's fundamental gentleness. Glen Ord has never been a heavyweight, and even at 18 years it retains a suppleness that sets it apart from more muscular Highland neighbours.
Bottled at 40% ABV — a decision that continues to draw complaint from enthusiasts who would prefer 46% and no chill-filtration — it is nonetheless a handsome dram, best drunk slowly from a tulip glass after dinner. It will not convert the peat-lover, but it offers a clear and dignified account of what patient Highland maturation can achieve.
