Glenturret (Ruadh Maor) 2010 10 year old Infrequent Flyers

I first tried this peated Glenturret at a tasting with Infrequent Flyers founder Alistair Walker. I remember enjoying it then, and my notes at the time reflect that. However, it was a 9 dram line up of 1.5cl samples, which were coming thick and fast, and I didn’t think lots more of it. It was great to try them all, but you are not going to get the full smell and taste experience.

I then took part in The Blind Tasting Consortium’s #BlindDrams , where it featured as one of five whiskies selected by our host for the evening Matt, which many will know from his excellent The Dramble website. I absolutely adored it, and subsequently went and purchased a bottle the next day. It had some tough competition on the night too, with a superb Mezcal finished Kilchoman and a young, heavily peated, first fill sherry Ben Nevis, my personal highlights.

I have to admit, I was convinced the Glenturret was a Ledaig 18, a whisky I have previously scored 8.5/10, and one I love. The burnt rubber, along with the sherried peat flavours carried all the hallmarks of it. Trying them side by side since, there are noticeable differences, but that’s blind tasting for you, and it will regularly pull your pants down when you think you are being smart.

The new owners of Glenturret plan to more than double the current production, from just over 200,000 litres, to 500,000 per annum, but without adding any new equipment. The worry would be that they hurry production in order to achieve this. Let’s hope that won’t be the case! Until recently, the distillery only produced around 10,000 litres per year of 80ppm peated single malt. The increase in production will no doubt include more of this too.

This Ruadh Maor was finished in a Marsala wine cask. What was it matured in before the finishing? We don’t know for sure, but I would be very surprised if it wasn’t a sherry cask.

Nose : Lots of rich toffee and christmas cake. A fire at a tyre yard, with salami, brie, english mustard, herbal sage, grassy silage and menthol mint

Palate : Very rich and thick, with sweet, creamy toffee and juicy raisins and blackcurrants. Savoury smoked bacon, peperoni, campfire smoke, toasted hazelnuts, a little more of the rubber, vegetal kale, treacle and some toasted oak. A lingering, bitter, smoky, salty finish, with more of those savoury meat flavours.

Conclusions : I love the interplay with the sweet and savoury. An absolute treat!

Score : 8/10

(Score descriptions can be found in the About page)

Vital statistics

ABV : 57.8%
Non-chill filtered : Yes
Natural Colour : Yes
Maturation : Peated cask (I imagine sherry) with a Marsala wine cask finish
Region : Highland
Colour : Amber

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