Batches : Glengoyne Teapot Dram

Distilleries often release whisky in batches, the same name but subtly different recipes, ABVs, maturation periods etc. In this new, occasional series, I'm going to review a number of different Batches in my Side-by-side format to see if I can detect any differences, does each batch get better or are they to all intents and purposes the same?

This time I'll be reviewing batches #4 and #6 of TeaPot Dram from @Glengoyne distillery, what differences are there?

Glengoyne Distillery is located in the Highlands - but only just, being less than 15 miles north of Glasgow. Founded in 1833, and now owned by Ian Macleod, it's sherry cask matured spirit is available is a wide range of age statement and NAS formats.

Photo: Justin Poulsen

The Teapot Dram has an interesting backstory:

Until the 1970s, Glengoyne workers enjoyed a thrice-daily dram. A full tumbler of whisky a day was wonderful, certainly, for the seasoned workers – but a bit much for the younger ones. To save face, they’d discretely pour their untouched drams into a copper teapot which sat on the canteen windowsill, ready for their older colleagues. Because the daily dram would never be taken from an old cask, this is a deliberately young, bold whisky.

Dram	Batch 004 (2015)	Batch 006 (2018)
Characteristics (Shared)	NAS Non-coloured NCF
Characteristics (Different)	58.7% ABV 3,178 bottles	59.3% ABV 2,772 bottles
Distillery tasting notes	Nose: Fresh pineapple, digestive biscuits, rosehip, sherbet, rose petals. Taste: Sweet treacle, cinnamon, marzipan, cloves, mouth-coating. Finish: Long, sweetness, oak, developing black peppercorn as it goes.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Mahogany in the glass, swirls leave a very thin line around the glass. It takes an age to form small beads and even longer to fall as slow thick widely spaced legs.	No change with Batch 6
Nose	Christmas in a glass - rich sherry notes, dried fruit, a little citrus peel, brown sugar or toffee. Strawberry jam, a key sherry pointer for me, is there in bucket fulls, but this isn't Tesco strawberry jam, it's M&S strawberry jam - it might even by Fortnum & Mason's strawberry jam! There's dunnage warehouse notes as well - damp and musty with the angels having spilt a little of their share from the sherry casks.	The Batch 6 has a much more softer nose - Christmas is still here with the sherry, dried fruit and citrus peel but there's also a little tropical edge - some pineapple maybe? The dunnage warehouse notes have completely gone missing, if anything there's a hint of smoke? After a little time in the glass orchard fruit - fresh apples and pears - a little hint of apricot - this is a different beast from batch 4.
Palate	Thick spicy arrival, coats the tongue with a oily film of sherry and spice - the strawberry jam is back along with loads of heat from chilli and pepper. It's slightly drying with a sour citrus bite as it disappears and you're left wanting more! A few more sips reveal the dried fruit and brown sugar from the nose.	The same thick arrival but without the huge bite of spice - it's there but again gentler than the Batch 4. Strawberry jam and pineapple coat the tongue before a fizz of cinnamon spice takes over. The spice was there it just takes a little time to arrive. The fruit is more prominent - orchard and tropical notes from the nose balanced with the strawberry. Again I'm sure there's a little hint of smoke.
Finish	Lingering warmth with peppery spice giving way to strawberry jam and orange marmalade. YUMMY!	Again lingering, but this time it's the fruit rather than the spice, it's there just not as in your face. Yummy!
Overall	Teapot is a dram to savour slowly next to a dwindling fire at the end of the night - it needs time and patience. Not patience to understand - it's a definite sherry bomb - patience to just sit back and enjoy without reaching for more and finishing the bottle! Both of these batches were complex and as you can see from my notes quite different beasts - spice led the way in Batch 4 allowing you to enjoy the sherry and fruit notes as an afterthought, in Batch 6 the spice came second - sherry and fruit notes led the way. To pick a favourite is very difficult - both are yummy - I think it's down to your preference with Sherry Bomb's - if you like the huge upfront spice notes Batch 4 would have been your favourite, otherwise it's the Batch 6. For me it's the former! Teapot has usually been released at around the £90 mark, the current one Batch 7 is available for around £120, an increase of £30, sounds a little like what Aberlour have done to the A'Bunadh? That's double the price of one of my favourite drams' from last year the Lakes Distillery Whiskymaker's Reserve #2, again a sherry bomb NAS with a very high ABV..... is it worth it? That is a difficult question to which each of us has our own answer - personally I don't think it is - somewhere around £90 is justifiable - it is a very good dram but £120 is just too much. There is increasingly more and more choice for the whisky buyer and the distilleries need to start remembering that.

Many thanks to @Whisk_Whisk and @SpiritAndWood for the sample swaps!

Geeky stuff:

Batch	Released	Bottles	ABV
7	Sep '19	3,993	59.9%
6	Jul '18	2,772	59.3%
5	Jul '16	3,138	59.6%
4	Jul '15	3,178	58.7%
3	Apr '14	3,484	59.4%
2	Jul '13	3,100	58.5%
1	2011	3,105	58.8%