GlenDronach, dark for many years, started up again in 2002, which means that the 12 year old whisky on the market today was actually produced there since the reboot. (When we last saw GlenDronach’s standard lineup in 2010, the spirit would have been older stock pulled from the warehouse.)
GlenDronach has a laser-like focus on “richly sherried” single malts, and the whisky reviewed here, dubbed “The Original,” is aged for 12 years in a combination of Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks.
Let’s take a fresh look at how this spirit is tasting as of the start of 2018.
While “richly sherried” is a perfectly apt description, it’s not as sharp with citrus as many sherry-heavy Scotch expressions. Instead, GlenDronach finds honey riding heavy on its aromatic profile, with austere, oily wood notes, walnut, and toffee rounding things out on the nose. The palate is quite rich and seductive, those nutty walnut and polished wood notes really driving the agenda, which ultimately leads you down a road to creme brulee, more toffee, toasted marshmallow, and hits of clove-studded orange, a citrusy overtone which lingers on the finish for quite some time.
GlenDronach 12 has become rather expensive of late, but even at $75 (and cheaper if you go a-hunting) it’s still worthwhile as one of the most reliable 12 year old single malts on the market.
86 proof.
A- / $75 / glendronachdistillery.com [BUY IT NOW FROM CASKERS]
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