Boutique-y Highland Fling!

As part of That Boutique-y Dram Good Club I recently received two Highland drams and decided to give them my side-by-side treatment.

These are both TBWC bottlings of Teaninch and Glengoyne whiskies.

Dram	TBWC Teaninich 19yo - Batch 1	TBWC Glengoyne 17yo - Batch 1
Characteristics	19yo, 48.6% ABV, Natural colour, NCF, 862 bottles	17yo, 49.1% ABV, Natural-colour, NCF, 1,204 bottles
Bottler info	Based on a true love story from many years ago about Captain Hugh Munro (founder of this distillery). He was shot in the head behind his eyes but, he survived! Unsurprisingly, he lost his eyesight as a result. His sweetheart was forbidden from marrying him due to his condition, so she married someone else. Despite their differing paths, she continued to love him and as her dying wish, visited the church to see him one last time. Nose: Hazelnut spread on rye bread, buttery croissants and fizzy oak spices. Palate: Floral at first - almost vegetal at points. Soon enough, the sweet baking notes from the nose return in full force. Finish: Honey, pear and hints of fresh barley.	This label depicts the distillery which straddles the A81 (the road which officially demarcates Highlands from Lowlands on the whisky map) making it the lowest Highland distillery. On one side is the distillery and on the other side of the road are the maturation stores. The distillery is on the West Highland way so there is also a group of hikers walking along the road. Nose: Full-bodied and filled with buttery goodness, the nose begins with lots of resinous sherried funk and thick, runny toffee. Then comes fruit: dates, sultana and red apples, with polished wood floors and ripe barley. Star anise and charred red pepper provide some intriguing notes underneath. Palate: Plenty of dark fruits, blackberry compote mostly, with Armagnac-like pruniness and a little orange marmalade in support. Christmas cake, a little creamy nuttiness and some supple tannins build in the backdrop. Finish: Dry, with roasted spices and a little caramel.
My thoughts:
Appearance	Light gold in the glass, gravity defying swirls leading to slow thin legs	Dark copper gold in the glass, swirls lead to slow fat legs.
Nose	Orchard fruit, honeyed porridge and a hint of citrus jump out of the glass. There's some nutty and floral notes too.	Sherry bomb notes of toffee, strawberries and dried fruit to start with but these 17 years have given a complexity that you could spend all night nosing! As well as raisins and sultanas there's dates, black cherries and a slight hint of dunnage warehouse mustiness - magical!
Palate	A lovely thick sweet arrival, the honey make itself known. Pineapple and mango mix with the apples and pears from the nose - a lovely fruit bowl of a dram. A few some sips reveal a slightly drying spice note - yummy!	Another thick mouth coating arrival, sweet strawberry jam, the expensive kind with lots of lumps! There's toffee and satsuma notes and hints of the dried fruit from the nose. Then the spice arrives - ginger and cinnamon add to the Christmas theme - delicious!
Finish	The spice dominates here - the fruit and honey sweetness offer some support but you are left with a lovely dry spiciness.	Again spice dominates this one and again a little drying with hints of honey sweetness.
Overall	Both are lovely drams which share typical Highland characteristics of spice and honey. The Glengoyne has more of a sherry influence which gives it a slight edge in flavour stakes, but.... it's two and a half times the price of the slightly older Teaninich.... Either bottle will delight your nose and palate so if you can give them a try, they are both available from Master of Malt.