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Glasgow Distillery

Glasgow 1770 Small Batch Series - Cognac Cask - 70cl, 56% abv

€73.50 $77.87 £63.55

Chocolate

Cocoa, cream, coffee beans

“Scotch and Chocolate” is the name of an instrumental piece from the American bluegrass band Nickel Creek. Bluegrass musicians generally know a thing or two about whisky, and right enough, the two are natural pairings (that goes both for Scotch and chocolate and for whisky and bluegrass!) - not least because many Scotch whiskies themselves have flavours that can be compared to chocolate, whether it be the creaminess of milk chocolate or the richness and coffee-bean-like bitterness of dark chocolate.

Chocolatey flavours are often the result of sherry-cask maturation, much like dried fruit - indeed, the two flavours often go together, as with the classic Macallans or Glendronachs. In particular, younger whiskies - especially blends - containing a proportion of sherry-matured malt often have an overtly sweet milk-chocolate character; older malts often become richer and more bitter, with dark chocolate or coffee notes. Dalmore is an excellent example of the latter, while a lighter style is key to the appeal of the underrated islander Tobermory.

The rich and heavy sweet flavours encapsulated by this flavour profile are often the result of the charring of oak casks, which produces compounds known as lactones (so named because of their similarity, in terms of flavour, to dairy products). It is therefore entirely consistent that the creamy, buttery characteristics of this flavour are often associated with bourbon: the new wood which gives bourbon its particular character provides strong chocolatey flavours, represented in Scotland by Glen Garioch Virgin Oak or Auchentoshan Virgin Oak; Talisker Storm is another good example, where freshly-charred rejuvenated casks provide a buttery, bourbon-like mouthfeel missing from the refill-cask-matured 10-year-old.

Chocolatey flavours are an obvious complement to the more dairy-like or milky elements of certain cigar styles - Rafael Gonzales or Hoyo de Monterrey would be good pairings, for example.

View more on this falvour here 

Spice

Pepper, cinnamon, ginger, herbs

Aged Scotch whisky is often much softer and easier on the palate than its alcohol strength would imply. So much so, in fact, that sometimes you need something to liven things up a bit. Luckily, a good number of single malts possess lively spicy flavours, some of them in great enough quantities to challenge tequila (naming no names). Others are a little more restrained, but still with the warming tingle of Christmas pudding and mulled wine.

A lengthy maturation, particularly in a large cask (e.g. ex-sherry), generally means more oxygen is allowed into the cask to react with the spirit and develop more complex flavours. These may include spicy flavours - lignin compounds break down over time, releasing more intense spicy notes into the spirit, while the high acidity and relatively low alcohol content of sherry often serve to bring out spicier notes from the cask wood. Clove and cinnamon flavours often derive from eugenols produced via toasting - that is, firing the wood of the casks over a medium heat for anything between 15 to 45 minutes (to be contrasted with charring, where the wood is fired for a very short time over a much hotter flame). Some of the most intense spicy flavours come not from the cask at all, but from the still: a lighter spirit (such as that produced in a tall still) will often have more kick than something more rounded.

Spicy characteristics are generally used to complement other strong flavours, such as dried fruit (e.g. Aberlour) or peat (Ardbeg), but the style is probably best showcased by the expansive and varied Highland region. Highland malts generally eschew excessive subtlety for bold and full flavours, and so often showcase strongly spicy styles. The best examples by far are in the Northern Highlands: Glenmorangie has a light spice that is perhaps better described as herbal; but a small distance to the north, Clynelish and Old Pulteney provide a salty, firey yet still sweet style that prickles all over the palate. Their eastern counterparts, such as Glen Garioch or Glendronach, retain a gingery warmth that it is not so much restorative as elixir.

The strength and spark of such potions pairs very well with similarly lively cigars: Partagas is an obvious match, as is Ramon Allones; but the peppery notes of a Cohiba or Bolivar will also go very well.

Glasgow 1770 Small Batch Series - Cognac Cask - 70cl, 56% abv

An exciting limited-edition new release and first of a new ‘Small Batch...read more

Tasting Notes

Non-chill filtered and natural in colour, only 882 bottles exist of this new Small batch Series release.
This is an alternative spin on their signature peated whisky style – offering smoky flavour with a premium French-inspired twist.

 

Nose: Glasgow’s signature peated spirit offers notes of smoky BBQ sauce, dark fruits, dried leather and sticky sweet tobacco.

Palate: Peat smoke accompanied by notes of soft brown sugar and crystallised ginger. Clove, cinnamon and woody spice mellows out to toasted earthy spices with more tobacco. There are fruity undertones throughout, including raspberries dipped in dark chocolate, dates and dried apricots.

Finish: Smoky and very long lasting with notes of sweet malt, cacao, black coffee and gingerbread.

 

Product Info

Glasgow 1770 Small Batch Series - Cognac Cask - 70cl, 56% abv

An exciting limited-edition new release and first of a new ‘Small Batch Series’ from The Glasgow Distillery.

A marriage of two casks, 18/963 and 18/964. Virgin American white oak barrels that were initially filled with Peated spirit on the 14th of March 2018 before being moved into ex-cognac brandy barriques on the 18th of November 2020 before being bottled at 56% ABV on the 16th of June 2022.

 

 

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Delivery Information

Robert Graham uses reputable courier services and we ship worldwide. Within the UK we aim to deliver within 2 working days. International delivery times vary depending on destination. After your purchase has been processed, you will receive an email notification with your delivery tracking number.

The shipping costs vary and depend on the weight of your parcel. Use our calculator to estimate the shipping cost for your purchase.

We strongly recommend taking on transport insurance for your purchase. You will have an option to do so at the check-out.

Note: Regrettably we cannot ship cigars or any other tobacco products to the USA and Canada.

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