Mini SBT from Garsu-san Sample B

A sample of Mini SBT arrived from my malt friend Garsu-san. Following the previous A, this is now B. ※For some reason, only the photos taken on this day do not rotate properly on the blog. Please excuse the horizontal orientation. B The aroma has a significant sense of maturation, fruity, enchanting, peaches and orange juice, faint berries and white grape, tea, a touch of chamomile, a hint of wax, a subtle barley note, an exquisite creaminess, refined oak, and faint old peat or nuts, with a sense of intoxication. When tasted, it has an intoxicating fruity character, maintaining the richness of a long-matured malt with slightly reduced alcohol strength. The mouthfeel is gentle, preserving the depth of a long-matured malt with strong and diverse fruits like apricot and orange, barrel-aged white wine, nuts, a light honey sweetness with juice-like acidity, tightened by high-quality oak. The body is medium, with a faint peat-induced intoxicating aftertaste. 【Very Good/Excellent】 It gives the impression of a cask strength with slightly reduced alcohol from long maturation, but rather than fruity, it has the classic sense of maturation accompanied by dryness. There was a faint peat from the 1960s distillation. With over 30 years of maturation, it naturally dropped to a cask strength in the late 1940s. While it might seem like an ordinary long-matured Speyside due to its intense fruitiness, there's a certain inexplicable depth that makes it reminiscent of some long-matured Highland malts. It also has a vattling (cask influence) feel, suggesting it might be an official bottling. Even if it's official, it likely comes from a smaller batch of long-matured type rather than a major bottler. My first impression was the Glen Grant Vintage Reserve from the late 1960s. The questioner, Garsu-san, is also fond of Glen Grant. This Glen Grant is one of my favorite malts; I've had several bottles, and intuitively it matched this image exactly. Other candidates included Balblair, Auchroft (Nackdhu), and Macduff. Predicted Distillery: ① Glen Grant, ② Balblair, ③ Macduff Distillation Year: Late 1960s Maturation Years: Over 30 years Alcohol Content: Around 48% Cask Type: Vattling (cask influence) Based on this tasting and prediction, I sent my response email. The correct answer was... Glen Grant GLENGOYNE 1969 OB VINTAGE RESERVE 47% The first impression was the Glen Grant Vintage Reserve. This bottle is one I really like, and I've written about it before. Since I had opened several bottles at home previously, the memory remained. From the mid-1970s onward, Glen Grant has been strongly associated with sherry casks. Recently, bottlers have also released some excellent sherry-aged malts around the 1972 era. Indeed, when I visited the distillery this year, it was fully committed to sherry casks. However, these late 1960s Glen Grants weren't solely sherry-focused but had remarkable long-matured vattling characteristics. When a bottle immediately comes to mind with the first impression, it's often correct in blind tastings. Plus, since the questioner, Garsu-san, is known to like Glen Grant, I was almost certain. However, after the initial impression, as I continued tasting and thinking through various options, I became a bit worried. Expanding my prediction to other long-matured Highland malts based on the first impression felt a bit unbecoming. (laughs) Nevertheless, this bottle is still incredibly intoxicating and delicious. To ensure I can share it with Garsu-san someday, I decided to cherish my stock. #Glen Grant (GLENGOYNE)