Just the other day I found myself curious about a particularly famous barely variety called Golden Promise and wondered which distilleries malted it, if at all. The timing was perfect as today we are looking at Glengoyne 10 Year Old Single Malt, whose distillery utilizes this interesting variety of Scottish barley. The reason why I mention this is because I have nothing else to write about. The other reason is that Golden Promise, while expensive and labor intensive to work with, malts well and yields a rich flavor profile, certainly a quality that distillers would seek apart from the more common strain called Triumph, if they so chose to, as it does not have as much of a yield as modern types. And now that I have distilled the usefulness out of the opening paragraph, we move on.
Glengoyne also possesses yet another quirk: they distill in the Highlands, and are technically located within that region, but they age their barrels in the Lowland region. Wow. That’s really, really interesting. Anyways, Glengoyne insists quite conspicuously that they do not peat their malt, even a little bit, as if the whisky all of a sudden gets better that way. After 10 Scottish summers in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry oak, today’s expression is bottled at 43% ABV. On to it….
SWC Review
Nose- Savory salty feel. Bran with raisins. Seaside quality with sour, citrus. Cinnamon.
Taste- Sweet honey. Spice cabinet smelled from 4.3 feet away. Cereal with vanilla.
Finish- Honey again, thick. Oak tannins with sour citrus peel. Cocoa.
Comment- Bit of a dull affair but yet has a hearty feel to it. Like a working man’s whisky after a day at the malting barn. Drinkable but we pass.
SWC Rating- 80/100
Agree? Disagree? Comment below and count it a Golden Promise for us to respond.
Spokane Whiskey Club 
Leave a Comment