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Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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August 22, 2014 |
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A few Glendronach
including the new Tawny |
Let’s have a few more of the very successful Glendronachs. We’ve been chatting with a friend the other day, and the fellow was wondering why the brand was so successful, precisely, beyond the style and the quality of their whiskies. One reason we have been considering was that Glendronach and its sister distilleries were looking and sounding probably rather less ‘arrogant’ than other names in Scotland. Whatever that means… |
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Glendronach 18 yo 'Tawny Port Finish' (46%, OB, 2014)  Obligatory disclaimer: I’m not a big fan of Port in my whisky and I don’t really like my drams to be… pink. Colour: not pink, rather apricoty/salmony. What we call ‘onion skin’ in wine. Nose: the vinosity is huge. This is like nosing rosé de Provence, almost, which goes well with the colour. Raspberries all over the place, whiffs of peonies, a little bubblegum… A very funny, very fresh and fruity nose, but we’re quite far from malt whisky. Agreed, not obligatorily a problem… Now the malt comes out after five minutes, while the fruits are fading away. Mouth: same feeling, starts very sweet, with a grassy maltiness covered with raspberry jelly and blood orange juice, cranberries, pomegranates… and becomes maltier after a few minutes, with some green spices, some ginger, a touch of horseradish… All that gives it a kind of sourness. Finish: of medium length, rather green, rather mustardy. Chlorophyll. Comments: indeed I’m not a huge fan of this rather chancy dram (in my opinion) but I guess the market needs variety. But it’s not a bad whisky at all, of course not. SGP:661 - 79 points. |
And now a different beast… |
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Glendronach 40 yo 1971/2011 (47.5%, OB, PX Sherry puncheon, cask # 1248, 545 bottles)  We’ve already tried a handful of sister casks, all ex-PX puncheons. I tend to prefer oloroso, but they were all to my linking. Colour: dark amber. Nose: starts appropriately varnishy and even solventy, but that should go away. And does go away. And then, we experience an avalanche of red berries, rich black pipe tobacco, prunes, strawberry jam, chocolate, juicy raisins and, indeed, old Pedro Ximenez. Touches of cloves and aniseed in the background. Mouth: extremely rich, prune-y and chocolaty. Plum jam, soft liquorice rolls, a spoonful of raspberry liqueur, blackcurrants, marmalade, a touch of some kind of sweet curry sauce, black raisins, coffee-schnapps… All rich and good, even if it tends to become a tad grapey. Finish: quite long, still very rich, but not exactly cloying. Liqueur-filled chocolate in the aftertaste. Comments: no wonder this baby did so well at the Malt Maniacs Awards in 2011. A 1972 oloroso smashed it (no wonder), but it still won very solid gold. SGP:651 - 91 points. |
Now let’s try some un-sherried Glendronach… |
Glendronach 22 yo 1977/2000 (50%, Douglas Laing, Old Malt Cask, 252 bottles) From Douglas Laing’s first years as bottlers of single malt. Colour: white wine. Nose: very interesting! This natural Glendronach is a rather oily and pretty mineral spirit, displaying notes of candle wax, sunflower oil, then rather sweet barley, cereals and hay. I quite enjoy this very, arr, err, natural style that’s rather less ‘emphatically fruity’ than other malts. Touches of earth and almonds coming out after a few minutes, all for the (even) better. Mouth: maybe more MOTR. A very faint smokiness plus some wax again, the whole being slightly graphite-y and even inky. Apples and almonds again. Oily mouth feel. Finish: quite long, very barleyish. Comments: goody good. Not stellar but goody good in my opinion. It’s just not very memorable. SGP:452 - 82 points. |
… And probably a sister cask… |
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Glendronach 1977/2001 (53.2%, Scotch Single Malt Circle, cask #3718)  I remember very vividly the superb 1970 that the SSMC had around the same years (WF 92). Colour: straw. Nose: same whisky as the DL, almost exactly, aroma for aroma. Same waxy, slightly austere nose. Same with water. Mouth: and same palate. Even the extra-3.2% don’t make for any differences. They just impart a little more sweetness, which goes away when water’s added. Maybe touches of pineapples? Finish: same. Maybe this one’s a notch zestier, more lemony. Comments: same comments. Okay, one more point because of the drops of lemon that I found after I had added water. SGP:452 - 83 points. |
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