Side by side: Glasgow's unusual side!

The Glasgow Distillery Company @GlasgowDC has been bottling whisky for 4 years now and some of their early experiments are starting to be released.

Small batches featuring Tequila and Cognac Cask finishes were released in August.

GDC was founded in 2014 by Liam Hughes, Mike Hayward and Ian McDougall . It's bottlings are labelled Glasgow 1770 after an earlier Glasgow Distillery Company which was founded at Dundashill in 1770 and remained active until consequent closure at the beginning of the 20th Century. The distillery is located in a small industrial estate just west of Glasgow.

The distillery features 5 copper stills in which they distil Vodka, Gin and Rum as well as Whisky.

Let's see how these Small Batch releases taste:

Dram	1770  Tequila Cask finish (Single Cask)	1770  Cognac Cask finish (Peated)
Characteristics	55% ABV NCF Natural Colour 295 bottles	56% ABV NCF Natural Colour 882 bottles
Distillery notes	Distilled on the 17th of October 2018 and filled into a first fill ex-bourbon cask before moving into an American oak barrel that previously held tequila on the 13th of January 2021. Bottled on the 17th of June 2022, this is a true representation of our unmasked sweet and fruity unpeated spirit that is gently accompanied by the rich honey and tropical fruit notes gained from the finish in a tequila cask.	A marriage of two casks, 18/963 and 18/964. Virgin American white oak barrels that were initially filled on the 14th of March 2018 before being moved into ex-cognac brandy barriques on the 18th of November 2020. Bottled at 56% ABV on the 16th of June 2022. This is an alternative spin on our peated whisky style – offering our signature smoky flavour profile with a premium French-inspired twist
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.	Mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.
Nose	Orchard fruit to start: pear, apples, peaches; then some malt, vanilla and a hint of citrus: orange zest. A little time and air reveals honey and some tropical fruit notes.	BBQ smoke, ash, berries, dates and prunes. There an old leather armchair note and some hints of balsamic vinegar and dark chocolate.
Palate	Thick sweet arrival, honey and toffee with orchard fruit and berries to start: pear, peaches, strawberries, blueberries. There's also some tropical notes here: dried pineapple, kiwi & mango. There's hints of digestive biscuit and milk chocolate here too - nicely complex. A little vanilla and a bite of spice: pepper and cinnamon; with a little drying icing sugar as the liquid disappears. Yummy!	Again a thick sweet arrival but full of peat smoke - BBQed fruit? Immediately drying with toffee, honey and berry fruit. There's some dark chocolate or coffee bitterness, lime zest and sweet berry jam. A bite of spice: ginger and cloves; as the liquid disappears. Interesting.
Finish	Lingering cinnamon and aniseed spice, orchard fruit and honey.	Lingering ginger spice, smoke and berries.
Overall	To be honest this is only the second time I've tried a Tequila cask finished whisky - the first was a Balcones from Boutique-y. From what I remember the finish added tropical fruit, vegetal and spice notes. The Glasgow dram has the tropical fruit and spice but I didn't get anything vegetal - a shorter finish or less active cask maybe. To be honest it didn't need it - this was a lovely dram! The Cognac finished dram was peated so as a completely different part of the spectrum than the Tequila. It was very spicy, not what I was expecting, dry smoke from nose to finish and some nice berry notes from the wine cask. These retailed at around £55 for the new 70cl size bottles, good value for a cask strength bottlings.

Many thanks to @BillyCowan for the samples!