I don't have any advice, I've never grown garlic. But all I can say is that I had many plants that are normally very hardy and come back no problem, either dead, or with just a few sprigs of the old plant. Unfortunately I had planted a few peony's last fall, none of the new planted ones came back, which is a first, because it definitely wasn't too wet. We were talking in another thread about our roses, and how even roses that are typically tip hardy have a ton of die back. I'm not sure what was different last winter, but it was really, really hard on some things.

My elephant garlic made it though it was on the slow side. What was odd is that there was massive winter kill of grasses in my neighbourhood. I've been vigorously reseeding but the watering regimen is taxing because it has yet to rain. I'm on a water advisory. Overall I'd say plant the garlic and try again. Every year is different and I bet your garlic will perform differently next year.