Glen Ord 12 yo Single Highland Malt

Glen Ord 12 yo Northern Highland Single Malt Scotch, short square bottle, box packaging, 86 proof, 700ml. About $75 delivered, no longer available in the US. While a fairly inexpensive dram when it was imported ~$45, international shipping adds a fair amount to the total cost if you want one now.



Glen Ord 12 yo is now a true collectable scotch in the US since imports were stopped in 2002. It may be that the lingering effects of my cold have changed my taste buds but the best thing I can say about this dram is that it has a nice bottle with a big wide mouth. I wish the bottle style was more popular with other brands. Not a bad scotch, just nothing to make it stand out except the malt flavoring which I found a little too big for the bottling.

A little of the history of Glen Ord from another website: Glen Ord is situated south of Inverness at Muir of Ord, (which means moor next to the hill). The distillery is now under the ownership of Diageo having been incorporated into the DCL group in 1925. The distillery was founded in 1838, although it is widely believed that distilling took place on this site long before this time. In 1961 the floor maltings were converted into a Saladin Box malting (similar to the one still in operation at Tamdhu) and this supplied the malt for the distillery until they were decommissioned in 1984. The mechanical maltings that had been built at Muir of Ord in 1964 to supply the group's other distilleries, then took on the role. Older bottlings of Glen Ord are sometimes bottled as 'Glenordie', 'Ordie' or 'Ord'.

Glen Ord noses sherry and malt, if you are lucky a touch of peat shows too. The taste is clean but unexciting with sherry and a barley malt sweetning with the malt drying out in time. The finish is smooth with a little vanilla, malt and caramel rounding things out.

There are 2 older bottlings of Glen Ord that make you wonder if they came from the same distillery. A 23 yo Rare Malt bottling released in 1998 (about £60, to be reviewed at some future date) and a 28 yo (£145) released last year. Both of these are outstanding examples of a Northern Highland malt and are well worth seeking out if you are in the market.

Great review! Thank you.

Great review AVB.

Isn't the DCL the group that banded together to distribute the "Classic Malts" series?

Trying to get more familiar with single malt scotch basics and how to get bottles that are more unusual than what you can find in your average US liquor store.

The "Classic Malts" are 6 of them Oban, Glenkinchie, Cragganmore, Talisker, Dalwhinnie and Lagavulin supposedly selected to best represent each of the mail whisky producing regions of Scotland.

If you want things not found in the local stores then you almost have to order from the UK. There are a number of bottlings that are not sold here but examples of the scotch are. It all depends if you are looking for specific bottles or just examples of a particular Scotch.

A mini history of DCL is below.

In 1877 the Distillers Company Ltd was formed by six of the foremost Lowland grain distilleries, namely Cameron-bridge, Kirkliston, Glenochil, Cambus, Port Dundas and Carsebridge. The aim of this amalgamation was to create a powerful and influential grouping in the booming world of Scotch whisky. In 1919 John Haig & Co Ltd joined DCL and the Dewar, Buchanan and Johnnie Walker companies were enticed into the DCL fold in 1925, being joined two years later by White Horse Distillers Ltd.

By 1930, DCL was the largest player by far in the Scotch whisky industry, controlling one-third of all operational distilleries in Scotland and owning virtually all the major blended whisky brands, as well as having a number of other significant commercial interests.

The Distillers Company Ltd continued to dominate the industry, through good times and lean, though it closed more than twenty of its distilleries during the over-production crisis of the 1980s. In 1987 DCL was acquired in acrimonious and highly controversial circumstances by Guinness, who had fought a bitter battle for control of the company with the Argyll Group. The new venture was named United Distillers (UDV which is now part of Diageo).

That's great! Thanks AVB.

Do you have a vendor you prefer to use when ordering from the UK, or do you just search for someone who has what you're interested in as it comes up?

I have a number of vendors I buy the more or less normal stuff from. The collectable items I go where I can find them. Had to buy from Japan for my last item.

okunen said:

That's great! Thanks AVB.

Do you have a vendor you prefer to use when ordering from the UK, or do you just search for someone who has what you're interested in as it comes up?

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