Taste Test: This Under-the-Radar Distillery Made the Best Whisky of the Year (So Far)

Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.

When it comes to whisky, I like being surprised (in other situations, however, it really depends on exactly what the surprise is). I taste a lot of whisky (and whiskey) for my job, but of course there are still some brands and distilleries that I’m less familiar with. One of those is Glengoyne, which made it even more exciting to discover just how superb the distillery’s new White Oak 24 Year Old is, and just how different it is from what the whisky it usually makes.

Glengoyne has a long history that dates back to 1833, and the distillery claims to currently have the longest distillation process—which means extended contact with copper and in turn more fruity notes on the palate. Like the Macallan and the GlenDronach, Glengoyne is known for aging its whisky in sherry-seasoned casks that it sources from Spain. But there is whisky aging in other types of barrels in the distillery’s warehouses, and there has been for some time now based on the age of this new release. The core White Oak expression is a non-age statement single malt that was matured in first-fill bourbon barrels and lightly charred virgin oak casks, which was a first for the distillery. The majority of what’s in the bottle was aged in the bourbon barrels, with the virgin oak used more as an accent because of the powerful impact that type of maturation has on a whisky’s flavor.

The same formula, more or less, is used for the new, limited-edition, 24-year-old expression, and the results are fantastic. Age isn’t everything in whisky, of course, but this bottle surpasses the core expression by a wide margin. The absence of sherry casks in the maturation process means that instead of dried fruit and heavy spice on the palate, you’ll find notes of vanilla, green apple, honey, dark and milk chocolate, and lighter baking spices like cinnamon. There is a healthy dose of tropical fruit here as well, something that is commonly found in a scotch whisky this old, but it’s relatively subtle and does not overwhelm the proceedings. Neither does the oak, even after almost 25 years, although that small amount of virgin oak barrels in the mix adds a splash of vibrant wood to the flavor profile.

Overall, this is just a fantastic whisky from a distillery that has flown under the radar a bit for me, something that I think might be the case for others as well. If you’re not a regular Glengoyne drinker, go out and try this whisky, and compare it to the core sherry cask-matured lineup to see just how different it is if you can. And if you’re a real one who has been dedicated to the Glengoyne cause for some time, you’ll appreciate the shift in direction that this new whisky takes.

Score: 97