Glen Garioch The Renaissance Chapter 2

A distillery that is almost hidden from the general public is this great Glen Garioch. Pronounced "Glen - Geeree" is one of Scotlands finest drams. It was mothballed for a long time, and when it re-opened, they released a collection of whiskies called "Renaissance", at 15, 16,17 and 18 years of age, to show the public the differences that one year of maturation can give you. This review is for the 16yo, the second chapter of the Renaissance collection, a ex-bourbon and sherry matured dram. Bottled at 51.4%abv, with a tawny color. On the nose, this is very nice. Orange zest, horse stable; ColaCao chocolate formula; this has the exact aroma of the mixture of butter and chocolate powder you use when making brownies. Lots of chocolate, hazelnut. It has this sweet artificial orange note, as a cheap orange candy you get from a piñata. Petrichor and humid notes. Pepper. On the palate, it is perfect. Just perfect. A very creamy chocolate note for 3 seconds, then a very citric orange appears. Some dehydrated fruits, that i had to overthink to realize it was blueberries. Very winey. It is a chocolate madness. I had to combine it with a dark chocolate, and it made the whisky release a beautiful refined sawdust note. Amazing whisky. Aftertaste wasn't too complex, but very rewarding. Sulphuric and Metallic notes; Cigarrettes and a creamy chocolate. Peaty, earthy, beautiful finish. Overall, i love this dram. It is my fourth Glen Garioch, and i have to say all of them have impressed me. Not a very famous distillery; their expressions are quite hard to find. But it definitively is worth the hunting. My score for it is a solid 94 over 100.