Big rock anthems, scaling mountains, pepperoni pizza and any time Sean Bean hits someone in a movie, are moments in my life where I regress to being a thirteen year old and want to scream, ‘Hell Yeah!’ I imagine it’s the same feeling stockbroker’s get when they hit the big one, or what base jumpers have plummeting towards oblivion, or what politicians had when they finally got one over News International. It is that welling up of adrenaline in the chest and the perhaps not profound realisation that life should always be dominated with this ‘Hell Yeah’ sensation, it drives people to think, to hell with the desk job, buy a campervan and ‘experience’ the world.
The Glen Ord 25 year old gives me this same feeling. It is a massive cask-strength whisky that screams ‘hell yeah!’ it is unpretentious in it’s size and grandeur. It overwhelms the sinuses, it Rugby tackles the tongue and it roars down the oesophagus like a dragon after a thieving hobbit. I wouldn’t describe it as a clever whisky; indeed I wouldn’t describe rock anthems or pepperoni pizza as being a thinking person’s cup of tea. However, the Glen Ord 25 overpowers silly thoughts of subtlety, complexity and elegance, and sometimes that isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes we need to spontaneously get up rip off our shirts and air guitar like there’s no tomorrow or anybody watching. Sometimes we need a whisky that keeps us grounded and reminds us what a whisky should be - big, strong and fun - kind of like Sean Bean. Man crushes aside this is a whisky to cap off a meaty barbeque, when the beers have led conversation to less refined topics and you want to finish on a rush. Slainte!
Glen Ord 25 Year Old
58.3% - Bottled 2004
Nose: Intense thanks to the high ABV, orange peel and ginger stomp around with rum butter and nutmeg calling from the sidelines. Candle tallow whips up a smoky fug that gives the Ord a more rounded character.
Palate: Orange and chewy with a good malty kick of power.
Finish: Long, stomach warming, throat burning and deeply satisfying.
Overall: Incredible body, positively obese. Rip-roaringly good.
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