Glen Grant 1956 Gordon & MacPhail Cask 4450 60th Anniversary of La Maison du Whisky 53.9% 1956

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (93)

NederlandsI always love it when G&M would let you do the math. Isn’t this baby 59 years old? Or was that only 58? I remember LMDW did also celebrate their 50th with a 1956 Glen Grant, which I thought was just fabulous back in the days (WF 93). Colour: amber gold. Nose: I believe this is the richest, most powerful very old Speysider I could try so far. Imagine vast amounts of pipe smoke, cocoa powder, coal tar, gas and truffles, exhaust fumes, burnt pinewood, cigars, black currants, miso and soy sauce, new leather jacket, chestnut purée… Oh my, what a monster of an old Glen Grant! Seriously, you would have told me this was very old Laphroaig, I’d I replied ‘obviously’. With water: what, bandages in Glen Grant? Cuban cigars? Germolene? This baby’s really playing with you. Mouth (neat): sweet Mary and Joseph, what a monster indeed. At some point you’d almost believe this was mis-stencilled. Maybe was it Malt Mill? Indeed it starts greasy and almost smoky, gets then tarry, and then goes towards all the dried fruits you could think of. I won’t list them as there’s a lost episode of Inspektor Derrick about to start on TV, but there. Oh and am I allowed to mention fruitcakes now? With water: pipe tobacco! Figs! Sultanas! Dates! Hay wine! Roasted pecans! And the expected bananas flambéed, but you’re right, that all depends on the kind of rum you’re using to ‘flamber’ those bananas. Say some proper un-botoxed Jamaican. Finish: long. Wonderful leather, tobacco, raisins, Jamaican rum (with these olive-y notes), even mezcal! I am not joking. Wetted marmalade in the aftertaste (with eau-de-vie, naturally). Comments: ‘something’ may have happened here. Glen Grant, post-WWII distillate, okay