GLENDRONACH 8YO 'HIELAN' - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Glendronach has pretty much assumed the throne of sherried whisky from the (once) all dominant player in that field, Macallan... Glendronach has also on more than one occasion been referred to as 'The New Macallan' - at least in the whisky anorak community, online...

But can Glendronach keep up with the success?

Won't they also (soon/already) reach the point when demand exceeds supply?

Well, there's certainly small signs of it... one of them being the the rumour that the 15yo Revival is being discontinued and once that rumour was out, prices started started going up and prominent online whisky shops has limited the expression to 1 bottle per customer...

Now the discontinuation of the 15yo could very well have something to do with the fact that the distillery wasn't producing between 1996-2002 and other rumours do also put it back as a part of the standard range in 3 years time.

Will it happen? We'll just have to wait and see, I guess...

Meanwhile, Glendronach has released a younger expression called 'Hieland' and I must admit, I was thinking 'Oh no' when I first saw it... but then I remembered some rather tasty younger Glendronach, actually around the 8 year mark, served directly from the casks on a couple of my visits to the distillery and thought that this just might work - especially when I found out it had some sherry casks in the mix...

So does the 'Hielan' work? read on...

Courtyard display casks, April 30th 2011 © The Malt Desk

Glendronach 8yo (2015) 'Hielan' 46%, ex-bourbon & sherry casks, Distillery bottling

Colour is light gold

Nose:

Very crisp barley notes, lots of malt and grist and hints of yeast.

Also in there are vanilla, a musty dunnage style note, some light toffee and spice and notes of overripe citrus fruits

Taste:

Quite creamy on arrival with yellow raisins and tangerines, Walker's Ginger shortbread and short floral burst and a little licorice before lots of juicy malt takes over - enough to keep the finish going for quite a while for such a young malt.

Before it crosses the finish line it does deliver a little dryness, which is IMO, not quite in tune with the rest...

This one goes a bit of the way with its maltiness, but instead of sweet it goes drying. This can be remedied with a little water, though

I still like this - and especially at €35! Its not overly complex, but what it does, it does well. I'm suspecting there's quite a few ex-bourbon casks in play here, but there's no hiding the sherry influence even though its a light one - for that the sweetness mid palate is just too obvious.
I also suspect some casks older than 8 years to be in play here.

Finally, a pad on the back to Glendronach for slapping an age statement on this. They could maybe have gotten away with not doing so, but given the popularity of the their 'Octarine'-expression they know that people would embrace this one too... and most importantly - the price is right!

84/100!

GLENDRONACH 1993 HAND BOTTLING CASK#474 - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

A week ago I reviewed a 1993 from the 10th Batch of the Glendronach single cask releases... and what a treat :-)

Now, as a follow up to that one, here's another review of a 1993 expression. This time, it's one of the fabled Distillery only hand bottlings, available from only in the Glendronach Distillery Visitor's Centre.

I recently covered the increase in price of many of the Distillery Only Hand bottlings available out there in this review, but I failed to mention the Glendronach in that one...

Actually, Glendronach has seen probably one of, if not, the biggest increase in price for their 1993 hand bottling going from around £80 in 2010 to reaching £120 in the summer of 2014... I payed £105 for mine in May 2014. Yet, people still gladly buy them... incl. myself, I'm both sad and happy to say, because I actually have quite an ambivalent attitude towards this.

On one hand I think its too expensive, but I also like taking home something special, that at the same time, tastes really, really good! On the other hand, my bank account and my common sense screams things like 'enough is enough' and 'it's really gotten way too expensive now' and 'Glendronach is really milking the sherry cow' ... and yet, I still left with 2 bottles (one was for the whisky club, though)

I must be a part of new species... 'spineless whisky anorak'... I wonder what the Latin translation for that is? or if Darwin even had a creature like that in mind... probably (hopefully) not! ;-)

Oh well, at least, Glendronach has put up a bench for us to wait on for the prices to drop ;-)
Meanwhile, you can also read my review of the Hand Bottling available in May 2014...

The Glendronach Distillery 'Waiting for prices to drop'-Bench, May 4th 2014 © The Malt Desk
(It should be crowded!)

Glendronach 1993 21yo (19.02.1993/04.05.2014) 58,6% Ex-Oloroso sherry butt#474, Distillery bottling

Colour is dark nutty brown

Nose:
Burst of alcohol at first, drying oak, nutty, prune juice, faintest hint of sulphur, the rubbery kind... Licorice, new leather, mint, burnt sugars and massive wine edge, mulled and spiked hot toddys (glögg), balsamico. The alcohol is very much in the lead here and this needs time to settle.

Taste:
Dry, Dry, Dry! and quite winey, meaning not only sherry but also very much like old tawny ports. Still a slightly dirty edge (read: sulphury hints) to this, but its adds to the experience here. Toasted oak/wood chips/charcoal and heavy on cloves and cinnamon. Water brings out dark rum notes and sweetens and makes everything sweeter, both on the nose and palate, giving off freshly made sticky toffee pudding, hints of dark chocolate and orange

This is quite a demanding whisky and probably not for everyone, due to its very drying style and this comes in on par with the 1993 from batch 10...

89/100!

GLENDRONACH 1993 21YO BATCH 10 - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

I've already reviewed another bottle from this batch, a 2002 12 matured in a Pedro Ximenez cask - you can read that review by clicking here. It's now time for a review of the one of only two Oloroso sherry casks released in the Glendronach Single Cask Batch 10... they were a 1992 and 1993 and this will be a review of the 1993, which proved to be, well, another excellent cask from 1993.

Sadly, recent dealings and correspondence with importers and owners Benriach Distillery Group has made clear that we'll not be seeing any more single casks of 1993 sold through individual dealers/shops etc.

Also casks from the 70s are under the same ban - apparently this is a move by the Benriach Distillery Group to preserve whatever stock left from those years. I will not be speculating any further into this, but my guess is we haven't seen the last... it is, as with everything else, just a matter of enough money being put on the table...

One can only speculate as to why the 1993 vintage from Glendronach seems to have pushed the boundaries and set the standard for how many Glendronach fans wants their whisky to be. Did they just make really good spirit at the distillery that year? Or is it the casks from that year? Did Glendronach source those from a specific bodega in Spain? and did that bodega have a good year too, getting good casks from their suppliers too? and did they have a really good wine they poured into their casks that year

Back then you also casks shipped to distilleries in one piece...you didn't break them down into staves and shipped them to save space and then have them re-coopered once they reached Scotland. Not disassembling them certainly help keep the casks fresh and made sure they wouldn't go through a new charring and scraping before being filled with spirit.

One things for sure, the casks play a huge role in the maturation of any whisky and getting the right sherry casks are a deal breaking demand for a distillery like Glendronach with their heavy sherry profile... Anyway, we'll probably never know as the possibilities are endless...

Meanwhile, lets enjoy some of the 1993s already released, most of them have been little crackers! :-)

Glendronach Warehouse Tour and an ex-bourbon cask Glendronach May 6th 2012 © The Malt Desk

Glendronach 1993 21yo (19.02.1993/xx.06.2014) 55,8%, ex-Oloroso sherry butt#494, 635 bottles, Distillery bottling

Colour is dark nutty brown

Nose:
Is this the Oloroso cask that wanted to be a Pedro Ximenez cask? its certainly very sweet and not the drier Oloroso I was expecting, not at all carrying that nutty or drying oak I was expecting on the nose...

Instead, its a much sweeter (you already said that!) I'm getting reduced tomato sauce, cloves, burnt candied almonds, nutmeg and fresh made cappucino and marinated plums (thanks for letting us try those recently Palle!)

Taste:

Fruity and honey'ed edge - again different from the profile I expected, but thats good :-)
Orange, peel, more coffee (latte), slight earthy notes, rum soaked raisins, candied and burnt/overcooked apple, Tiramisu and Creme de Chocolat and green Haribo wine gums (Don't know here they came from!) Finishes on a burst of oak and a dusting of paprika.

Another great, if a bit different, cask of 1993 Glendronach. I like the liquid sweet dessert style in this one... 

89/100!

GLENDRONACH 2002 12YO BATCH 10 - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Not long after the release of Glendronach's Batch 10 of Single Casks was announced, the hype surrounding these bottlings showed itself - especially in a couple of dedicated groups on Facebook... and as soon as they hit the shops, they sold out too, especially the 1993 vintage, which apparently has a reputation for being one of better 'recent' vintages - but of course, not at all comparable to the fabled 1972s.

This time, there were only 2 oloroso casks in the batch, a 1992 and a 1993  - the rest were from PX casks... and no really old vintages this time, with a 1990 24yo being the oldest release in this batch.

I'll be skipping 30 years ahead from the fabled 1972s to 2002 and, as you might have guessed by now, a bottling from the recent batch 10 release.

The Glendronach Spirit Safe, April 30th 2011 © The Malt Desk

Glendronach 2002 12yo (11.06.2002/xx.06.2014) 56,7%, PX cask#1500, 565 bottles, Distillery bottling

Colour is dark mahogany

Nose:
Starts off promptly with a thick sweetness of fresh raisin, Madeira?, burnt sugar, dried tomato. Lots of must and dark earthy notes in here as well. Cheap cola notes, dark toffee and some herbal notes lurke in the background as well. The addition of about a teaspoon of water bring out danish marzipan and milk chocolate notes... I even find hints of smoke on the nose :-O

Taste:
Rush of sweetness, extremely mouth coating, molasses and old rums, some but in no way invading wood spices, honey'ed mead, sweet orange notes, medium roast coffee beans, chocolates again filled with Grand Marnier liquor, some BBQ tomato/pepper/mustard marinade as well...

What a great single cask bottling this is...

89/100!

GLENDRONACH 1990 - CADENHEAD AUTHENTIC COLLECTION

Glendronach has, in whisky circles, been called the new Macallan... and rightly so. It carries the heavily sherried style that is now gone from Macallan except for a few very high priced bottlings, ripe only for the collectors market.

Glendronach, on the other hand, is still with reach of the many, though we are beginning to see the distillery realising their potential - bottlings have seen a rise, especially the past year or so as the distillery have grown ever more popular.

Like Macallan, Glendronach produces a heavier style spirit, as in more oily and mouth filling and enhanced by (mostly, there have been some duds) good and even great sherry casks, its obvious to see why Glendronach have quickly gathered a huge fan crowd.

Also like Macallan, we sometimes see the occasional Glendronach ex-bourbon cask escape the blenders grasp and its one such I'll review below...

Dronach Burn and warehouses, April 30th 2011 © The Malt Desk 

Glendronach 1990 23yo, 53,9%, ex-bourbon cask, 162 bottles, Cadenhead Authentic Collection

Colour is straw

Nose:
Vanilla, licorice, ginger, spicy, fresh cut bell peppers, apple and gooseberries

Taste:
Spicy and lighter than expected. lemon and black pepper, vanilla and ginger again, bitter almonds and black olives - very mouth filling and oily

A good dram - no doubt and I will take a second pour if offered, but there's quite an oaky nip to this one and its not quite in full balance.

85/100!

GLENDRONACH 2002 - DISTILLERY BOTTLING FOR WHISKYBASE.COM

This will be the last review before Xmas - and a Xmassy whisky this next one is, though maybe not as heavily sherried as many of you think a Xmas whisky should be, but I quite like this one and I should get around to review this one now, as there is still bottles of it to buy at the Whiskybase.com shop as per today (22/23 December 2013). (added 25. Dec: Now sold out!)

As you can see from the link above, I'm about to review a Glendronach - a distillery that has pretty much gotten all the attention since Macallan decided to skip on releasing heavily sherried expressions. This have made people start almost a cult like following of Glendronach, much like Macallan used to have...

This expression, however, is not as heavily sherried as many of the other expressions from this distillery - but that's partly because of its age - at only 11yo...

This cask also shows a few traits usually found in ex-bourbon matured whisky which is quite unique...



Alan McConnochie pouring straight from the cask during the Glendronach Connoisseurs Tour, May 6th 2012 © The Malt Desk

Glendronach 2002 (30.05.2002/xx.12.2013) 11yo, 57,2%, ex-oloroso butt#2751, 701 bottles, Distillery bottling celebrating Whiskybase.com v3

Colour is dark amber

Nose:
Gristy/mashy, dusty/mouldy, ginger (in an oloroso cask??), light orange liqueur (cointreau) the whole thing getting more citrussy with time and a few drops of water. Also some fresh sawed hardwood and hint of mint toothpaste in there. Heavy sniffs suggests some cooked apple notes hiding behind the sherry.

Taste:
First impression is that this is very fresh and clean cask. No immediate off notes, though the alcohol seems a bit aggressive. In spite of that, orange and dried fruit notes rush in to save the day. Like on the nose, some fresh wood shows itself along with some citrus, dried banana snacks and more ginger.

This is very nice :-) and could have picked up 1-2 more points if it hadn't been that aggressive.

88/100!

GLENDRONACH 1994 - SINGLE MALTS OF SCOTLAND

Many fans of sherry matured whisky have shifted favourite distillery these past 3-4 years. Mainly to the drop in quality and/or style change with their regular sherry whisky distillery.
What I hear is a hit these days are several expressions of Glenfarclas, incl the much appreciated '105', Aberlour A'bunadh... and, of course, the many expressions of Glendronach! The NAS Cask Strength, the 15 and the single casks expressions being the most sought after...

I, myself, is also a Glendronach devotee, though I stick to the single cask expressions and the BYOs from the distillery. All have been good, except one which was badly sulphured/rubber style to the point of undrinkable... a 1996-bottling cask#197... I just can't get it across my lips when its this bad. Guess they're allowed a misfire sometime :-) but some people love that style! :-O

But back to good Glendronach. Now and again I come across an indie bottling and I, of course, rush right in to try it. Some have even been from ex-bourbon casks and have been quite good and I've also tried a couple of ex-bourbon cask expressions straight from the cask at the distillery and they have also been crackers! So, please, Glendronach, would you release a cask strength bourbon cask version - You'll be surprised how many of us out there like it!

Anyway, back to the review, which is an indie bottling done by the lads at The Whisky Exchange in London in their Single Malts of Scotland-series (as was my previous review).

Glendronach Warehouse across from the distillery April 30th 2011 © The Malt Desk

Glendronach 1994 15yo (04.07.1994/02.09.2009) 61,8%, sherry butt#2231, Single Malts of Scotland

Colour is dark amber

Nose:
A mix of dried fruit and vanilla, fresh smelling garden after the rain, honey and slightly floral hints. Hints of mint, paint, citrus fruits in there as well. Calms down over time and after 10 drops of water, showing a more restrained clean sherry character - lovely nose, but be careful sticking yours too deep in the glass - the alcohol can be numbing!

Taste:
As clean as they come in the lighter sherry style. Some light raisin and plum notes and a dose of apple and banana in there as well. Vanilla, toffee and spices too. Also a hint of cardboard and a baking dough note. Finishes on a a hint of on slight hint of nutmeg, malt and dash of oak before it dries out.

A very good dram, IMO ...and thanks to GNJ for the sample!

87/100!

GLENDRONACH SINGLE CASK BATCH 8 NOW OUT

GLENDRONACH has today, 5 July, released Batch 8 of its renowned single cask bottlings.

 

Selected by Master Blender Billy Walker, this latest batch was filled in May and all eight expressions are available as of today.

 

The eight, ranging from 42 to 10 years old, share GlenDronach's typically luxurious, richly-sherried and fruity characteristics, with waves of delightful eucalyptus, plums, damsons, sweet chocolate, almonds…even toffee-drenched raisins and red chilli!

 

One of the eight is an aspiring youngster – the new kid on the block is a zesty 10 year old from cask 1988. On the nose, white pepper and cinnamon. On the palate, treacle-covered ripe autumn fruits, fresh mint and toasted nuts. An unusual but hugely appealing young Highland malt to savour while relaxing in a sun-lounger this year!

 

The cask details are:

 

1971 cask # 1246 / 42 years old / Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon / 44.6%vol

1990 cask # 2971 / 22 years old / Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon / 50.8%vol

1991 cask # 5409 / 21 years old / Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon / 49.8%vol

1992 cask # 145 / 21 years old / Oloroso Sherry Butt / 58.1%vol

1993 cask # 3 / 20 years old / Oloroso Sherry Butt / 52.9%vol

1994 cask # 101 / 19 years old / Oloroso Sherry Butt / 58.4%vol

1996 cask # 1490 / 17 years old / Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon / 53.1%vol

2002 cask # 1988 / 10 years old / Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon / 55.6%vol

 

Source: Glendronach Distillery website

GLENDRONACH 1992 16YO - DK EXCLUSIVE - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Back in 2005, Glendronach distillery stopped coal firing its stills directly and replaced it with steam firing instead. This change has -at atleast one other distillery- proven itself to change the character of the spirit so much that when a certain iconic Speyside distillery at the foot of Benrinnes did it and afterwards tasted and had their spirit analysed, they quickly reverted back to direct firing as the spirit produced with steam was not the same style as they used to produce...

One can only hope that this doesn't affect Glendronach in the same way - but then again... why shouldn't it? With direct firing you often get an uneven heat distribution, you may also get one still running hotter than the other and maybe having a caramelising taking place inside the still - there's just so many more factors to take into account when old fashion production methods are used... One can only wonder if this has something to do with us praising older bottlings for their often more saturated tastes - that and excellent quality casks from yesteryear too...

My guess is that we'll just have to wait a few more years to see the result at Glendronach and meanwhile, I'll keep my fingers crossed that the change from coal to steam firing has affected the distillery style too much...

The old fireboxes at Glendronach © The Malt Desk August 25th 2012

I'm gonna end this row of Glendronach reviews with another country exclusive bottling - this time a bottling done for Denmark back in 2009

Glendronach 1992 16yo (27.11.1992/xx.07.2009) 57,3%, Oloroso sherry cask#1135, 648 bottles, Distillery bottling, Denmark Exclusive

Colour is Mahogany

Nose:
Spices, sour cream & onion crisps, curry, herbal tea, damp earthen floors.

Taste:
Herbal again, more spices, raisins, dried fruit, roasted and sugared nuts, honey, good malt influence too and mulled wine

88/100!

GLENDRONACH 1993 - 19YO UK EXCLUSIVE - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

In August 2012, Glendronach started to replace their washbacks. The first 2 on the right had just been replaced when I visited on August 25th - they were just only being filled with water to test for leakages and to expand the wood into shape.

Honestly, I think many people forget the work that goes into making washbacks and the craftsmanship and work done by the coopers... without these guys you wouldn't have traditional wooden washbacks, let alone casks for maturation.

Glendronach takes great pride sherry cask maturation but that doesn't mean they don't mature whisky in i.e. ex-bourbon casks, which I also mentioned in the previous review. Actually Glendronach matures pretty well too in ex-bourbon casks! so well, that I'd take a bottle of the stuff we tried at the distillery any time! Also, what they do at Glendronach is mature some of their whisky in bourbon casks for 8 years and then transfer it to sherry casks for the remainder of its maturation - usually 8 or more years again... The results I've tried in the warehouse on last years Spirit of Speyside Festival tour were very, very nice :-)

That said, I'll review another sherry cask bottling for you, one that has been very well received among my whisky friends...

Glendronach Tun Room © The Malt Desk May 3rd 2013

Glendronach 1993 19yo (15.01.1993/xx.10.2012), 57,1%, Pedro Ximenez Cask#26, 614 bottles, Distillery Bottling, UK Exclusive

Colour is Mahogany

Nose:
Flowery, vanillas, spicy, creamy cocoa, shoe polish, leather

Taste:
Honey, spices again as in nutmeg and cinnamon, lovely balance on oak vs, malt and sherry. Finishes on a bitter drying sherry - not too much - herbs and orange peel.

This is truly a great dram packing a little more punch than the PX cask#3183

91/100!

GLENDRONACH 1992 19YO - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Hello Folks, I'm back... :-)

Having spent the past week in Scotland -mainly at the Spirit of Speyside Festival- its now time to resume the writing here after having soaked up the atmosphere and clean Highland air.

Friday, May 3rd saw our merry group of 6 whisky raiding vikings first off to the Whiskies of Scotland shop in Huntly and after a short stop there off to Glendronach Distillery.

Once at the distillery we were -as always- greeted warmly by Karen Mcwilliam and Sandra (sorry, don't know your last name, Sandra). First, we had a wander around the distillery as usual when we get there... this time, though I spent most of my time taking pictures and watching the expressions on my friends faces as it was their first distillery and warehouse visit - smiles were big, I tell you... big smiles! :-)

After having a 10yo 1st fill bourbon cask at 53% in the warehouse, Karen popped the bung on another cask, a fabulous 20yo sherry cask though I've forgotten the abv on that one...

Back inside the visitor's centre, Karen had lined up a delicious range of Glendronachs for us...

• 10yo 1st fill bourbon cask sample at 53% - same as in the warehouse, but now at room temperature - just delicious, (I want one, Karen!)
• 15yo Tawny Port 46%
• 18yo Allardice 46%
• Cask Strength batch 1 54,8%
• 18yo cask#1607 Distillery Exclusive 56,1%
• 1972/2012 40yo
• Manager's Cask (BYO) cask#1616 59,2%
• Peated 3yo

Already looking forward to my next visit :-)

I'm gonna finish this post where I left off before leaving for Scotland, which was -very appropriately- in the middle of a streak of Glendronachs...

Kool hand Karen @ Glendronach © The Malt Desk May 3rd 2013

Glendronach 1992 19yo (27.11.1992/xx.10.2012), 57,8%, Oloroso cask#1123, batch 7, 524 bottles, Distillery bottling

Colour is dark mahogany

Nose:
You can tell this will dry your mouth - even the nose is drying!
Triple espresso and dark chocolate 85% cocoa (powder), some vague sulphur notes that goes away after a short while, leather, getting almost balsamic and maybe black tea as well.

Taste:
Ultra dry, alright... Crushed coffee and cocoa beans, plums, game, a burnt note and hint of sweet licorice, incredibly vinous and completely sherry broken!

I just love this style from time to time and Glendronach can really ace this category and they sure have with this bottling...

91/100!

GLENDRONACH 1991 20YO - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Glendronach releases it single cask bottlings in batches - like the Cask Strength version reviewed last and specialises in the heavy sherry style of Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez (PX) casks.
Anyone who took their time will know that PX sherry is one of the sweetest drinks around - the sweetest one yet contains just under 440 grams of sugar per liter !!! yes - 440 grams !!

I recommend you read this document on sherry production to get more insights into what its all about - you can use this link here

Moving on to one of the single cask bottlings from last batch released - that being batch 7... both Oloroso and PX casks were released in that batch and I'll be reviewing both one of each from that batch and later also a UK exclusive and a DK exclusive. Stay tuned!

Glendronach Distillery Yard & Old cart, © The Malt Desk May 2011

Glendronach 1991, 20yo, 51,3%, PX cask#3183, batch 7, 600 bottles, Distillery bottling

Colour is Mahogany

Nose:
Raisins and creamy milk chocolates and coffee. An incredible sweetness accompanied malt, toffee, dried fruits and rum-raisin ice cream

Taste:
Heavy dark fruity sweetness, oily, nutmeg, plums, vanilla and hint of cloves. Goes slightly bitter only to return on milk chocolate, spices, apples and honey

What a cracker, if you're into sherry whisky!

90/100!

GLENDRONACH CASK STRENGTH BATCH 1 - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Now for something completely different for the next 5 reviews... Sherried whisky - from what you would regular sherry matured to almost pitch black and completely sherry broken.

Where do we go for that? and also get a more than average heavy spirit character as well?
Glendronach, of course!

I asked at a recent tasting why many people prefer dark sherried bottling, a topic I've mentioned before on the blog, but from a buying perspective. At this tasting I tried to make people take a stand on either, but almost all said they liked both even though the sherried bottlings seemed to be more popular - once again I got confirmed that many people also 'drink with their eyes...'

Now the very few ex-bourbon cask lovers there - or at least the one who spoke up (you know who you are - and thanks, K for doing so) :-)

You're wondering what the explanation for preferring ex-bourbon cask matured whisky is?

'When maturing in an ex-bourbon cask, you get much more natural spirit character coming through, where as when sherry matured, or at least heavily sherry matured, you mask the spirit behind a think layer of sherry...'

Does that sound plausible? I think it does and I personally like bourbon matured whisky as much as sherry matured myself, so it was also a pleasure for me (and oh, such a tough job *sigh* - irony may have been used here) to review these next 5 ones from Glendronach Distillery outside Huntly (Forgue, East Highlands) over the next few posts.

Glendronach Stills, May 2012, © The Malt Desk May 2012

Glendronach Cask Strength NAS Batch 1, 54,8%, 12000 bottles, Distillery Bottling

Colour is dark amber

Nose:
Vanilla, sultanas, oranges, tobacco, some milk chocolate and an hint of mashy/grainy character

Taste:
Chocolates for sure, bitter sweet crisp malt, candied apples, some nuts, ginger and honey cake, drying and mashy with a herbal note on the finish

Very good, but I'm not quite convinced here...
Batch 2 should be on its way to the shops late April 2013...

86/100!

NEW GLENDRONACH CASK STRENGTH EDITION

The other day, Glendronach Distillery announced the launch of a new bottling.
Its going to a be a Cask Strength bottling without any age statement, bottled in batches from November 2012 and on and will be available for your Xmas-shopping this year.

No retail price has been release yet...

Source: Glendronach Distillery website http://glendronachdistillery.com/

We are excited to give a preview of our latest GlenDronach expression - the GlenDronach Cask Strength!

This expression is not available in the market yet - it will be bottled in November. The whisky is matured in a combination of the finest Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks. It is non chill filtered and of natural colour.

Tasting notes:

Colour

A deep golden body glistens with rich crimson.

Nose

A luscious balance of succulent sherry aromas explode in honey drizzled golden sultanas spiced by warm oak and gentle ginger.

Palate

Intense toffee and cocoa cascade into the rich sherry soaked dark fruits. Zested orange explodes in the long alcohol infused chocolate fondant.

Finish

Long and lingering.

Another preview and tasting notes can be found on the Whiskyfun website.

GLENDRONACH 1990 - CADENHEAD AUTHENTIC COLLECTION

Over the next few days, I'll review 2 older bottlings and 1 very exclusive bottling tried during my recent trip to Scotland. All drams were had in the very well stocked bar at the Ardshiel Hotel in Campbeltown. I can certainly recommend you going there if you're in Campbeltown!

© Ardshiel Hotel

I'm pretty much staying locally in Campbeltown during these 3 reviews as I will be doing 2 from Cadenheads and 1 exclusive Springbank.

First up...

Glendronach is often classified as a Speyside distillery, though it is located a bit further east, near and south of the town of Huntly and therefore (often, atleast) classified as a Highland distillery. Glendronach has been mothballed for number of years before being taken over by first Pernod Ricard and later the Benriach Distillery Company and are now producing since 2001.

Glendronach has always been known for its heavily sherried bottlings but this time a bourbon cask has escaped this Aberdeenshire distillery - lets try it...

Glendronach 1990 13yo 55,4%, bottled July 2003, 222 bottles from an ex-bourbon barrel, Cadenhead Authentic Collection

Straw coloured

Nose:
Vanilla and apple at first nosing, then the wood section at the home improvement market. Also some hay and lemony notes.

Taste:
Spicy oak, vanilla again, oily. Then malted barley sweetness and boiled white fruits - a nice dram...


86/100!

NEW RELEASES - GLENDRONACH SINGLE CASKS BATCH 6

Today, July 13th has seen the release of the 6th batch of Glendronach single casks.


Bottlings are:

1971 cask#1247, 41 years old, Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon, 47.9%, approx 529 bottles

1978 cask#1068, 33 years old, Oloroso Sherry Puncheon, 52.9%, approx 318 bottles

1989 cask# 4885, 23 years old, Moscatel Barrel, 53.9%, approx 286 bottles

1990 cask#2966, 22 years old, Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon, 55.1%, approx 539 bottles

1993 cask#536, 19 years old, Oloroso Sherry Butt, 59.4%, approx 596 bottles

Source: Glendronach