House of Hazelwood : The Eight Grain 40 Year Old

Tasting Notes and Recommendations for The Eight Grain 40 Years Old by House of Hazelwood

Tasting

Appearance
In the glass, The Eight Grain 40 Years Old reveals a rich golden hue, tending towards honey gold, the result of forty years of maturation in American white oak casks. This deep colour is accompanied by fine yet persistent legs, revealing a dense, glycerine-like texture characteristic of great, long-aged grain whiskies.

Nose
The nose proves rich, captivating and multi-faceted. It opens on aromas of cooked sugar and caramelised banana evoking banoffee pie, before revealing a pleasant underlying note of wood shavings that structures the whole without ever overpowering this indulgent, pastry-like signature.

Palate
The palate is round and perfectly balanced, carried by plump stone fruits intertwined with lively citrus notes. The texture, classically creamy and generous, recalls the richness typical of aged grain whiskies, offering a silky, enveloping sensation. The long, harmonious finish reveals refined oak spices and a touch of warm vanilla, all supported by a surprisingly discreet oakiness despite the whisky's age and the strength of the cask.

Pairings and Tasting Occasions

The Eight Grain 40 Years Old is ideally suited to a slow, contemplative tasting, served at room temperature in a tulip or Glencairn glass in order to fully concentrate its aromatic palette. Its pastry-like richness and creamy texture make it an excellent companion at the end of a meal: it pairs beautifully with a lightly caramelised stone fruit tart, a crème brûlée, a citrus pudding or a banana and caramel dessert. It also pairs well with well-matured hard cheeses, such as an aged cheddar or a long-matured gouda, as well as with milk chocolate desserts enhanced with praline, hazelnut or soft caramel.

Mixology

Given its rarity, exceptional age and limited release, The Eight Grain 40 Years Old is above all designed to be enjoyed neat, possibly with a few drops of water, in order to preserve the integrity of its unique aromatic profile. It is a sipping whisky in its own right, best reserved for special occasions rather than for use in cocktails.

Other Characteristics

The Eight Grain 40 Years Old is a non-peated blended grain Scotch whisky, bottled at 48.5% ABV, with no chill-filtration or added colouring, thereby preserving the natural character of the distillate. It is the result of a rare blend of eight Scottish grain distilleries, some still operating today, others now closed, giving this whisky a unique heritage dimension. The release is strictly limited, with each bottle presented in a numbered, hand-labelled decanter, accompanied by a presentation case.

A Rare Scotch Blended Grain Whisky with a Pastry-Like Profile, Blended from Eight Distilleries

House of Hazelwood, the Gordon Family's Secret Collection

House of Hazelwood is a Scotch whisky brand born from private stocks accumulated over nearly a century by the Gordon family, descendants of William Grant. Originally assembled for family occasions, this collection, considered the largest reserve of aged Scotch whisky in the world, was only opened to the public from 2022 onwards. The casks, spread across various warehouses throughout Scotland and spanning seven decades of production, include first casks, last casks and blending methods that have since disappeared. The brand takes its name from Hazelwood House, the family home in Dufftown that was once home to Janet Sheed Roberts, granddaughter of William Grant. Today, House of Hazelwood remains owned by the Gordon family, led notably by Jonathan Gibson, with Kirsten Grant-Meikle serving as a representative figure of the family heritage.

The Eight Grain 40 Years Old, a Manifesto for Blended Grain Whisky

The Eight Grain 40 Years Old Whisky belongs to the Legacy Collection within House of Hazelwood's Autumn Collection. This Blended Grain Scotch Whisky brings together distillates from eight local distilleries, several of which are located in Speyside, some still operating today, others now closed, giving it a provenance that is almost without equal in the grain whisky category. The house presents this expression as a celebration of the diversity of grain whisky, designed to demonstrate that, at an advanced age, this often under-represented category can achieve a complexity and refinement comparable to those of the greatest malts.

Matured for forty years in American white oak casks, this whisky is bottled at 48.5% ABV, with no chill-filtration or added colouring, in order to best preserve its natural character. The extremely limited release further reinforces its status as a collector's piece, as does its presentation in a numbered, hand-labelled decanter, accompanied by an elegant presentation case. Praised by several specialist tasters as one of the most accomplished expressions in the Autumn Collection, The Eight Grain 40 Years Old is aimed at knowledgeable enthusiasts, collectors and connoisseurs eager to discover the potential of ultra-aged grain whiskies from distilleries, some of which no longer exist today.