Today it is about Scotch whisky. Ginny was continuing her going through stuff project and she pulled out a towel-like item that was really a wall hanging. It was a label from a Glen Grant whisky bottle. What caught my attention was the label mentioned Glenlivet which turns out to be a part of Scotland where the Livet river flows. The proper name of the single malt from there is The Glenlivet. Glen Grant was a new one on me. So I fired up Bing and did some searching around. Glen Grant distillery was founded in 1840. Over the years it has changed hands on several occasions ending up currently in the grip of the Campari Group. It is a popular whisky and is the best selling whisky in Italy.

So it was off to Specs, the closest big box liquor store, to find some. Being a Saturday afternoon, they were having tastings which is a good reason to go on Saturday afternoons. This time it was almost all whisky. That is good. Sometimes they have lots of tequila. That is bad. I just don't like tequila.

Sure enough, there were some bottles of Glen Grant 12 year on the shelf. One of the bottles jumped into my shopping cart as if by accident. So it was home with my prize.

It is always fun to do a little research about a new brand before having a taste. First stop is always the brand's web site to see what they say. Most of the time there is some tasting information. It is important to remember that the tasting notes are designed to sell whisky, but it points the way to your own tasting notes. It is also instructive to have a look at some of the pundit web sites. Some are good. Others are terrible. It comes right down to what you taste and enjoy.

Several years ago I got started in the joys of whisky tasting. At the time my awareness of whisky taste was pretty close to zero. It seemed that a logical thing to do was to start writing down my own notes and referring back to them every once in a while. Right now there are notes of 40 of them. It is a mixture of Scotch and Bourbon.

As far as the Glen Grant is concerned, I found it to have the usual fruity (apple) aroma and flavor. It finished a little warm with a lingering licorice flavor. There are other notes in there which I have yet to identify. I am no expert. This one is pretty good. Similar to The Glenlivet. I think the latter may have some oak in the flavor profile. Whichever one you choose, or maybe both of them, you can't go wrong. Maybe I should publish my notes. Maybe not. The only person who cares is me.