1965 Gordon & MacPhail Glen Grant Rare Vintage 40%

Nose: waxy apple and no shortage of crispy, chipper malt: still a freshness to this despite the loitering oak; the muscavado sugars offer a further fruity sideshow; a few teasing smoke molecules, perhaps...? Taste: salivating delivery, though the tannins take a harder, more aggressive, line than on the nose. Finish: the oak grips with some inevitable spice. The malt still has a part to play, offering a late and surprising gristy sweetness; there is even an intriguing late hint, again, of something on the phenolic side. Balance: the casks in use here have sorely tested the resolve of this obviously high quality distillate. It nearly buckles under, but not quite… 40%.