Insider knowledge: Garnheath 40 Year Old 1969 - The Clan Denny (Douglas Laing) whisky is named whisky by virtue of the fact it's from Scotland. If distilled in America the spelling would be Garnheath 40 Year Old 1969 - The Clan Denny (Douglas Laing) whiskey, as opposed to whisky.
Nose: Cocoa, nutty, hints of something tropical, almond, vanilla, nutmeg.
Palate: Spices, flambéed bananas, toffee, fruits, chocolate, espresso coffee, unlit cigars.
Finish: Medium length finish with cigar boxes, honey and spice.
A lovely mature, resiny, sawdusty nose. The oak is quiet nimble and shot through with plenty of mature honey. It puts me in mind of a lighter version of Invergordon. Over time some herbal coffee and oily marzipan aromas come to the fore. The oak itself doesn’t smell as mature as you would expect, one can detect some toasty/ charred notes at work, so I would assume that this has been re-racked at some time in its storage. The palate opens with the light, resiny oak and marzipan. The grain sits beneath and gives the tongue a light tingling lashing! This is seriously complex, the flavours break like waves upon the tongue – dried spicy fruit, slightly caramelised banana and mature nuts. Finally it moves into Guyanan territory with a tart, tangy, vegetal/ agricole rum note. Stunning length with a touch of dark chocolate on the finish.