Tag Archives: GlenDronach

News: The GlenDronach Traditionally Peated

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GlenDronach Traditionally PeatedThe GlenDronach Distillery has announced the release of The GlenDronach Traditionally Peated; a peated expression of the Highland Single Malt, which is best known for its unpeated sherry cask maturation style.

Master Blender Dr. Rachel Barrie has crafted The GlenDronach Traditionally Peated from a marriage of the finest Pedro Ximénez, Oloroso sherry and port casks.

This peated expression is bottled at 48% ABV and, as is the case for all The GlenDronach expressions, is non-chill filtered and absorbs colour naturally over time from the Spanish oak in which it resides.

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Review: GlenDronach Cask Strength (Batch 6)

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the glendronach cask strength batch 6 whiskyGlenDronach Cask Strength (Batch 6), 56.1% abv

Info: Matured in a combination of Spanish Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso Sherry casks. Bottled at cask strength, 56.1%, non chill filtered and at natural colour.
Colour: Slightly rusty rich gold.
Nose: Fairly rich nose, lots of malt and lots of sweet sherry notes. Reasonably sour sherry, slightly damp and mossy. With some air there’s plenty of cream, and some milk chocolates notes, and a hint of younger more virgin oak wood cask type smells. The sherry then turns sweeter with some honeyed qualities.
Palate: A nice fairly nutty and reasonably beefy malt greets you, with gentle but well pronounced sherry notes coming out quickly. It’s a little hot because of the high strength, nothing some water wouldn’t sort out no doubt. The strength helps it feel really oily on your palate, with a reasonable pinch of spices, and a good amount of sweetness. Plenty of green and red apples, mushed down with some vanilla custard.
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Review: GlenDronach 25yo Grandeur Batch 8

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GlenDronach 25yo Grandeur Batch 8GlenDronach 25yo Grandeur Batch 8 – 50.5% abv

Info: Matured for 25 years in Oloroso Sherry casks. 1,505 bottles, 50.5% abv.
Colour: Deep, rich, dark, winter sherry fruits.
Nose: Like the colour, the nose is deep and dark, jam packed with winter sherry fruits, berries, malt and brown sugar caramels. Old fashioned, vintage whisky.
Palate: Lovely thick and oily, your palate is covered in gently sweet whisky flavours, which isn’t spice dominated, rather it’s bolstered by gentle spices to elevate the whole thing to a higher level. There’s a herbal nature at the middle of the dram followed by older antique oaks at the back to balance things out.
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Review: GlenDronach 14yo Marsala

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GlenDronach 14yo MarsalaGlenDronach 14yo Marsala – 46% abv

Info: This GlenDronach 14yo Marsala single malt is finished in casks which previously held Marsala wine.
Colour: Golden with deep yellow tints.
Nose: There’s what I’d call a proper nose going on here, something really full of flavours which keep you wanting to smell for ages. There’s plenty of sweet malt, backed up by sweet fruits, summery grapes and Cantaloupe melons, all with the backing of something properly matured in dunnage warehouses.
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Review: GlenDronach 14yo Virgin Oak

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the glendronach 14 year old virgin oakGlenDronach 14yo Virgin Oak – 46% abv

Info: This is a re-release of the critically-acclaimed 14YO Virgin Oak first issued in July 2010. It’s bottled at 46% abv, non chill filtered and with natural colour. Matured initially in European Oak casks and then finished in Virgin Oak casks.
Colour: Fully golden, with hints of orange rust.
Nose: There’s a good grippy nose to this, which very quickly shows off those virgin notes, with hints of what you might expect from a bourbon whiskey. There’s a light bouncy, sweet toffee note, with hints of melon and ripe banana.
Palate: Thick and oily, with spices which build fairly quickly. Packed full of flavours, the virgin oak not dominating instead being well integrated along with malt, oak and fruits.
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Review: GlenDronach Peated

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GlenDronach PeatedGlenDronach Peated – 46% abv

Info:  Peated, unusually for GlenDronach. Initially matured in bourbon casks before being finished in Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez Sherry casks. NAS.
Colour: Ripe straw to light gold.
Nose: Instant peaty hit, we’re talking a smoked peat, a lightish mossy highland peat rather than a punchy coastal TCP island style. There’s rich malt playing nicely with a medium level of peat, both complimenting each other with good level of sweetness from some sherry cask influence. The peaty malt has a dusty quality with a sweet toffee fruit note. A very smellable dram!
Palate: Sweet peaty malt covers your tongue with nice thick oils. It’s not over powering, meaning that you can hold it on your tongue for a long time to enjoy and explore the flavours.
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Review: The GlenDronach 12 Year Old

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the-glendronach-12-year-old-whiskyGlenDronach 12yo ‘Original’ – 43% abv

Info: Matured for at least 12 years in a combination of Spanish PX & Oloroso sherry casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.
Colour: Rich sunset gold, rusty orange tints.
Nose: Instant rich and deep sherry bomb tones on this fine malt. Plenty of ripe plump winter fruits and packed with nuts. Hints of menthol and gentle oaks.
Palate: Fairly oily and easier on the palate than expected; sweet, honied and wonderful with the Christmas / Dundee type of fruit cake notes coming out.
Finish: Long with brown sugar caramel and honeyed fruits.
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Review: GlenDronach Cask Strength Batch 5

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GDCaskStrengthBatch5-bottleinfrontLR_000GlenDronach Cask Strength – Batch 5 – 55.3% abv

Info: NAS, cask strength, non chill filtered and natural colour. Matured in a combination of PX and Oloroso sherry casks.
Colour: Vibrant autumnal gold.
Nose: Rich, punchy deep sherry nose. There’s winter fruits in abundance, blackcurrants, redcurrants, loganberries, cranberries, fat juicy currants, sultanas and raisins. All underlined with a buttery creamy malt and hints of oak wood.
Palate: Instantly a great crushed nut and gentle oak note which leads into the sweet deep malty fruits. It’s a bowl of stewed winter fruits with thick Birds vanilla custard on it. Thick and enjoyably oily.
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Review: GlenDronach Cask Strength Batch 4

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the-glendronach-cask-strength-batch-4-whiskyGlenDronach Cask Strength – Batch 4 – 54.7%abv

Info: Matured in a combination of Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks. Non chill filtered, natural colour.
Colour: Summer gold.
Nose: Malty, sherried and fun. Fairly full on, don’t sniff too hard. Nutty apple pie. Fresh with a bit of youth (not in a bad way though) and, after a while, a touch of acetate.
Palate: Easier on the palate than expected, it’s quite gentle to start with, sweet and packed full of fruity flavours and fun. The longer you hold it on the palate the more intense it becomes however.
Finish: The finish goes on for quite some time, it’s sweet, some young touches, and with spices building all the time before eventually fading out.
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Review: GlenDronach ‘The Hielan’ 8yo

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GD8yoBottleGlenDronach – ‘The Hielan’ – 8yo – 46% abv

Info: Matured and married in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks. Non chill fi ltered, natural colour and bottled at 46%.
Colour: Light to medium straw, nice and natural.
Nose: Plenty of fragrant malt, hints of oak, bourbon character at first giving way to the more fruity sherry – a fairly light summer sherry. A nice clean sweet nose.
Palate: Medium to thick, oily and sweet. There’s more spice than I was expecting to find. It gives way to fruity flavours of summer berries, and plenty of malty goodies. There’s a fiery chariness to it at the back.
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