GLEN MORAY 16

McCormack's Big Whisky Grill 

I finally had an opportunity to visit McCormack's Big Whisky Grill. Obviously, the West End's Regency Square Mall is a shell of its former 1980's/90's heyday, but the exodus of large anchor stores and chain restaurants has allowed for some local flavor to fill the void. In the space formerly occupied by Texas de Brazil, the expansive bar and scale of the restaurant dwarfs the already impressive original McCormack's location in the Fan. Between 'Whisky School' events every Tuesday night, frequent tastings and themed dinners, and a bar easily triple the size of any other in the Richmond metropolitan area, this place is RVA's utopia for scotch drinkers.

Unabashedly slack-jawed while scanning the shelves, malts from all over the world caught my eye: Penderyn (Wales), Brenne (France), Lark (Tasmania), Amrut (India), Nikka (Japan), etc. These would have to wait for another day however, I would be strictly limiting my selections to the 213 single malt scotch expressions on the menu. This time though, I had prepared a wish list.

The single malts paired off in Virginia Distillery Company's Eades 'Double Malt' series were deliberately selected as being particularly rare (or at least less familiar) here in Virginia. Of the six, there were three I had never seen anywhere in Richmond, never mind tasted: Longmorn, Glen Moray, and Ben Nevis. Other than the Eades connection, I knew absolutely nothing about any of them, but sure enough, McCormack's has a bottle of Glen Moray 16 (glen MO-ray).

This Speyside distillery had been affiliated with Glenmorangie for years, but in 2008 was purchased by a French corporation, Martiniquaise, whom I mention solely for their association with Old Virginia Bourbon Whiskey. "Faithful to the expertise of the first Virginia distilleries", a rare and subtle acknowledgement of Virginia as the rightful birthplace of bourbon (Berkeley Plantation, Charles City County, 1621). Although oddly enough, this particular bourbon is distilled and aged in Kentucky, bottled in France, and ironically not available in Virginia ABC stores.

Situated near Elgin ("the capital of Speyside"), along the banks of the River Lossie, the Glen Moray Distillery ages its 12 and 16 year old expressions in American oak bourbon casks, then finishes them in Chenin Blanc casks. Because the cask aging warehouses are situated in a valley below the water table, the distillers believe the 'angel's share' evaporation occurs more quickly there. That could well be true, or perhaps the night watchman gets awfully thirsty. Since the facility runs 24 hours a day, the angels get the benefit of the doubt in this case.

I knew nothing of the cask aging particulars when tasting the Glen Moray 16, never even having heard of Chenin Blanc (a highly acidic grape variety used in sparkling or dessert wines). I was particularly surprised to learn there was no involvement of sherry whatsoever. The color was certainly light and golden, but the nose had a deep fruity richness and milk chocolate creaminess that I would've swore was from a sherry butt. Warm pecan pie, caramel, vanilla, and a touch of smoke made for a well-balanced nose. The longer I let the malt breathe, the more the chocolate aroma opened up.

Oak was more apparent on the palate, making sort of a leather furniture note. A full-bodied, biscuity malt with baked apples, vanilla, and spice slowly morphed over the course of about ten minutes into rich toffee and chocolate sweetness. Whether a result of the longer aging or the whole 'water table/angel's share' thing, the richness and depth of flavors are considerably more sophisticated and robust than I was expecting.

The tannins in the oak began to show up at the finish. The light smoke pops up again to say hello just before trailing off as well, though I never did notice any peat. What lingers is a warming, decadent chocolate pecan pie creaminess coating the palate. I wish it'd lasted longer, but to me that's usually a sign I was really enjoying it. Thumbs up, Glen Moray, best Speyside whisky I've had in months.

Overall Grade: 92/100, A-

p.s. Happy Fastern's E'en, Slàinte Mhath!

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