FACTS
The Glendronach is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland and produces some of the finest sherry-matured single malt Scotch whiskies. Glen House, originally called Boynsmill, was built in 1771 and renamed by James Allardice when the distillery was built in 1826. James Allardice was the man who started it all. He possessed the land, buildings, and adequate source of water and his nephew, Robert Davidson, who was a chemist, saw a good opportunity in the distilling industry. The barley was being grown locally by two farmers, Robert Stuart and John Thain, and they were persuaded to join the enterprise too. This is the group of people who possessed the perfect blend of money, knowledge, and business acumen to build and run a distillery. They named their enterprise from the Dronach burn, which flowed through the estate, and so The Glendronach was born.
The distillery has been bought over a number of times in its history, the first being in 1830, when it was bought by Walter Scott of Teaninich distillery and became the largest duty paying distillery in the Scottish Highlands. In 1920, Charles Grant, son of Glenfiddich distillery founder, William Grant, took it over and then in 1960, it was bought over by William Teacher & Sons, who expanded the number of stills from two to four. In 1976, it was taken over by Allied Distillers who mothballed the distillery in 1996. In 2002, the distillery was, once again, in full production and in 2005, they became the last distillery on Scotland to switch from coal fire heating to steam. Allied Distillers was taken over by Pernod Ricard who owned it until 2008 when the distillery was bought by The BenRiach Distillery Company Ltd. The Glendronach, along with it's sibling, The BenRiach distillery, achieved much success over the following years and in 2016, along with a third distillery, Glenglassaugh, were taken over by Brown-Forman Corporation.
The Glendronach has a capacity of 1.4 million litres annually. Their fermentation times are between 60-96 hours in nine, 18000 litre, wooden washbacks. They have 2 wash stills (12000 litres) and 2 spirit stills (9000 litres). Their new make strength is between 69%-70% and their casks are matured in 3 dunnage and 3 rack warehouses. Their core range of whiskies includes an 8, 12, 15, 18, and 21 year old as well as a NAS peated expression. As with their BenRiach sibling, they often experiment with cask finishes including Sauternes, Marsala, Moscatel, and Tawny Port and also have limited release cask strength and peated whiskies. Further, they have a range of 'Grandeur' bottlings which are bottled from their oldest and most unique sherry casks. Finally, they release annual batches of single cask whiskies and also bottle these single casks for selected clients. One such single cask is the whisky we're reviewing today and was bottled for Whisky Brother in South Africa.
Whisky/ Year: Glendronach 13 year old (2003 - 2016) Single Cask
Whisky Type: Single Malt
Distillery/Owner: The Glendronach Distillery (Brown-Forman Corporation)
Country/Region: Scotland (Speyside)
Cask Type: Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon
Age: 13 Years Old
ABV: 54.1%
Chill Filtration: No
Natural Colour: Yes
Price: R1400 / $100 / £80 (Discontinued)
TASTING NOTES
Colour:
Deep Gold / Dark Mahogany
Nose:
The nose is big and bold, sweet, and massively fragrant. There's rich, dark honey and a floral character, almost Armagnac-like. Loads of fruit - dried apricots, figs, and raisins and a whack of fresh strawberry, plum, and lemon with fruity hard-boiled sweets, too. It's quite spicy with cinnamon and a gingerbread note as well as a hint of char. Water brings out more of the fresh fruit
Palate:
It may be cask strength but this is very drinkable without water. Initially sweet and rich, it become quite tannic, as expected, and moves on to cinnamon, cocoa, and a hint of tea. There are prunes and sultanas with citrus, fresh red berries, and the scent of old, dusty books. With water, it becomes sweeter and the citrus is even more pronounced
Finish:
The finish is long and mouth-drying. You're left with fragrant spices and sweet, zesty citrus
P.S.
If you didn't pick one of these up from Whisky Brother when they were still available (Only 519 bottles), you've missed out. It's an absolutely delicious PX sherry bomb that doesn't disappoint, a real winter-warmer and a dram you can sit aside a fire with and spend hours unravelling its mysteries. I doubt you'll still find one of these bottles hanging around, but fear not, Whisky Brother has a myriad of other single casks available, including a new Balblair sherry bomb, so pay them a visit at www.whiskybrother.com and see for yourself.
SCORE: 8/10
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