GLENKINCHIE 12

I've gone on too long about the smokier side of scotch, a niche onto itself within the wide flavor range of single malt whiskys. I have my favorites for sure, but I have many favorite Speyside and Highland malts as well for very different reasons. When I started posting these reviews a couple of months ago, I had not yet sampled a Lowland malt, and only recently seized the opportunity, coming across a bottle of Glenkinchie 12 (glen-KIN-chee).

This seems like a good time to mention Diageo's Classic Malt series. Diageo is "a global leader in beverage alcohol", and you can't throw a frisbee at a stocked bar without knocking over one of their brands. Of importance to us, they also own and market a series of six (later expanded to 15) single malt scotch whiskys, often sold together as a set: Lagavulin 16, Cragganmore 12, Talisker 10, Oban 14, Dalwhinnie 15, and seemingly the Lowland black sheep of the bunch, Glenkinchie 12 (a 10 year old version originally). The first four are among my absolute favorites, and it occurred to me that somebody in Diageo's 'mergers and acquisitions' department had similar taste to my own, and maybe I should try this Glenkinchie stuff.

The distillery lies in East Lothian, a half hour drive southeast on the A1 from Edinburgh, Scotland's capital and second largest population center, hence Glenkinchie's natural moniker 'the Edinburgh Malt'. This also happens to be a major region of barley production, much to the benefit of the distillers. Reading about the distillery, one of their points of pride is having the "largest stills in Scotland", which is the opposite of what most seem to advertise. According to Glenfiddich and Macallan, their small stills were responsible for lightening the flavor of the malt, and Glenkinchie is far lighter than either. I'm starting to wonder if nobody really knows anything about the shape of the still having any effect at all.

I have heard Lowland malts referred to as 'lunchtime scotch' or 'summer whisky'. Although it was October, it had been unseasonably warm week in Richmond, and I had taken the kayak out to Huguenot Flatwater that afternoon. Seemed summery enough to me. The whisky pouring into the glass even reminds me of lemonade, quite pale in color.

The 'nose' is very light as well, no singed nose hairs with this one. Grassy and grainy, subtly floral and sweet. Like standing in an overgrown field in a warm breeze. Honey for sure, and slightly nutty. With so many whiskys I read 'aroma of heather', with which I can't say I'm too familiar (except for that one from my freshman dorm, so... Zima and sunscreen?).

Taking a sip, I find its lightness oddly refreshing considering my normal taste for full flavored scotch. It has a distinct freshness to it, despite being 12 years old. Fresh cut grass and citrus fruit (maybe grapefruit), vanilla. The malt flavor was easy to pick up, as well as light cereal flavor, like dry Rice Crispies. The finish was jarringly sharp the first few sips. There was an ethanol sting on the back of the tongue, like what I had experienced with Glenlivet, but also a bitter note like raw onion. It occurred to me that if I was drinking this with a meal, I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought, but everything else had been so light and fresh to that point that it seemed out of place.

In trying my first Lowland malt, I had high hopes of finding a new flavor profile in which to explore. Having only tried the one, Glenkinchie 12 becomes my favorite purely by default, but that's not saying much. I'll try to give Auchentoshan and Ailsa Bay a taste first before making any snap judgments about the region as a whole. My favorites in other regions usually lean towards the stronger end of the spectrum in their respective flavor profiles. That first day tasting it was an ideal situation for such a light malt, but by the end of the bottle I was bored with it. I don't foresee that many more opportunities to drink scotch with lunch on a warm summer day. Wait, is that why people play golf? Ooooh... now I get it.

Overall Grade: 82/100, B-

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