Everyone remembers their first time.
For me, it was just before my 21st birthday party. Later than most, I have to admit, but I finally felt like I was ready. I knew a lot of my mates had done it, and sure, I’d experimented with some cheaper thrills along the way, but it finally felt like the right time. My dad had given me some advice and it was time to take the plunge.
I was going to buy a bottle of whisky.
My dad’s advice was simple – get a single malt, and don’t gamble on anything smoky (that’ll come later). Being a poor student at the time, the rest of my decision-making process was dictated by the price brackets of my local Morrison’s.
As it turned out, that meant Glen Moray. I think it was about £16 a bottle at the time, but I still felt like it was enough to come across as sufficiently sophisticated in front of a particular lady from my contract law class (who, as it turns out, was more of a rosé drinker anyway).
Now, I’m not sure Glen Moray is anyone’s favourite whisky. Frankly, I’m not even sure it’s in anyone’s top three favourite whiskies that start with ‘Glen’. But as the first bottle to grace my liquor shelf (placed alongside Lambrini and a bottle of Aldi’s knock-off Jack Daniel’s), it will always hold a special place in my heart.
So, fast forward more years than I care to admit, and my eye is caught by an interesting new bottle on the supermarket shelves. It turns out Glen Moray now comes in a Cognac Cask Finish. And it feels like when you find out that the kid you went to school with who did nothing but muck about with the keyboard sounds in the music room now has a fast car and a beautiful wife. You have no idea how it happened, but you’re surprisingly proud and intrigued.
Look a little closer and you notice that there is no age statement, nor is there any indication of what fill the Cognac casks were, or indeed how long the whisky spent in there. However, with the price point still as inviting as ever, I thought it was worth a punt. Let’s see if it turns out to be a surprise bargain.
Glen Moray Twisted Vine
ABV –40%
Price – £23 (Asda or Tesco, but only when there’s a sale on. £32 normally)
Nose –Immediately, Baking Apples hits you hard. Very tart and a little sour. A full bouquet of Sour Patch Kids sweeties, and the tart sweetness of cherry pie too.
Palate – The tartness persists, but it’s more like blackcurrants now. And a nuttiness of almonds joins the mix, so it’s like a pleasing frangipane. It’s pleasingly bold and full-bodied, like a Malbec or some other rich red (there’s a reason I don’t review wine…).
Finish – The initial tart and sour hit finally subside, leaving straw-like notes and a little more nuttiness.
I’m very happy I bought this bottle. No, it’s not my favourite, but it’s far from the worst in my collection. It doesn’t set the world on fire, but it’s a nice, simple, and fundamentally tasty whisky. At £23, it’s a bargain by anyone’s definition. I’ve paid £20 for a dram of worse whiskies in my day. In my head, it’s the whisky I’m going to offer guests who I secretly suspect no nothing about whisky. It’s unique and trendy and drinkable enough to strike up a conversation (“Oh, and this one has a Cognac finish. That’s really quite rare. Why yes, I suppose we are brilliant hosts…”), but in all honesty, it’ll save you having to reach for the good stuff.
As ever, I’m faced with the dilemma of deciding if I review this bottle. Do I review it as a £23 whisky, or do I review it as I would any other bottle. I’ll do the good people at Glen Moray a favour and review it by the same metric as I would any other dram. For 23 quid, it’s a steal. Will I be desperate to replenish my stock any time soon? Probably not.
In short, cheap and absolutely cheerful.
But fear not Glen Moray. We’ll always have my 21st birthday party…
6/10
The Water Of Life 
I just got an absolutely spectacular deal on one of these at a branch of a major supermarket recently. It was reduced to clear at about £17 and I also happened to have £7.50 of loyalty card vouchers burning a hole in my wallet. But that’s just me gloating. I’ll get stung on something else soon enough.
I reckon the whisky industry – or, more specifically, the producers of single malt scotch – owe Glen Moray a debt of thanks. Many distilleries will provide you something at vast expense that’s just offputting to someone on a budget who wants to see what this is all about, but not Glen Moray. Everything they produce is sold at a very competitive price for its type (by “type” I mean such impacts on cost as age and the cask in which it’s been matured). It’s affordable: the least expensive NAS expression is still just under £20 when it’s on offer, the same price as it’s been for many years. That offer is so regular and so widespread that it might as well be considered the usual price. This is a no-brainer: at that price it’s going up against blends and the only single malts in the same ball-park are fake distillery name bottlings (meaning the “Glen” names that could easily be confused with a country and western singer).
Is Glen Moray bad whisky? No, it isn’t. Not by a long way. I know it’s my own opinion but I tried a Knockando 12yr last weekend: another Speyside that will usually set you back over £40 for 70cl. Head to head, I’d have the Glen Moray as a hands-down winner (more distinctive flavour when compared with something that’s really rather tame, a little bit generic and generally speaking, showing that its stock-in-trade is as blend-fodder). You’d also expect to shell out more for a Loch Lomond 10yr and that one leaves me with PTSD.
A whisky tasting attend from time to time did a whole evening on Glen Moray because, as our resident whisky guru said, it’s one of the few distilleries where in the same purchase you can buy a decent range and stay solvent. Of that decent range, the vast majority is more than decent in taste too and you can investigate the impact of different cask finishes on the same product without becoming insolvent.
Will I restock my Glen Moray? Technically, I just did, only I didn’t go with the same expression. I know I can try something a little unusual in the way of cask finish and find that I won’t be paying a lot of money for some really old rope.
Conclusion? Glen Moray isn’t cheap, it’s inexpensive. Worth having. There are others I’d covet, but Glen Moray is a daily dram single malt. Some might call it a Tuesday night whisky: It’s Tuesday tomorrow and life’s good.
I love Twisted Vine. There’s so much to enjoy and even whisky beginners can nose it and find raisins oranges and apple. It is a bargain at £23.