
August 30, 2016

Little duets, today oloroso Glendronach

It seems that the older vintages are almost gone, but on the other hand, the younger ones are quite good as well. Pretty pretty good… (indeed I’m a Larry David fan). Oh and I’m much more for oloroso than for PX! Just saying…

Glendronach 19 yo 1995/2015 (54.6%, OB, for Taiwan, oloroso sherry puncheon, cask #5086, 607 bottles)

Indeed a puncheon is a very large cask – and Taiwan is getting just mad with anything malt whisky. Well-done Taiwan! Colour: amber. Nose: my they do the olorosos well! Leather and cigars, then walnut wine and marmalade, then raisins and menthol liquorice, then polished oak. As expected, this baby’s got all going on. With water: perfect. Did anyone ever tried to add Cuban tobacco to chocolate? Instead of just nuts or raisins? Mouth (neat): very very good, and not stuffy/olorosoed, so rather fresh, starting with bitter oranges and cracked pepper, going on with some bitter chocolate and fruitcake, and becoming rather raisiny then. Our beloved large black Corinthians. With water: swims extremely well. Gets fruitier and fresher, not something that happens very often with oloroso monsters. Truth is, this isn’t quite an oloroso monster. Finish: rather long, fresh, with raisins and marmalade plus a drop of old armagnac. Comments: firmly in old Mac territories. Who goes hunting loses his place. SGP:651 - 90 points.

Glendronach 18 yo 1993/2011 (54.9%, OB, oloroso, cask #1, 509 bottles)

Colour: almost coffee. Nose: chocolates of various kinds and origins, plus a little game, marc, beef bouillon, and hashish. In a way, its rather narrow, but it’s perfectly narrow. Ah yes, and bone marrow. With water: nosing a box of cigars, more or less. Mouth (neat): rather rougher and less immediately pleasant than on the nose, thanks to a gritty/grassy side that’s a little troubling. Well, not quite but it’s a little tannic perhaps, as in over-infused tea. All the rest is pretty great. Coffee. With water: very good, should I add ‘of course’. Toffee, coffee, chocolate, and raisins. The tannicity has been diluted. Finish: long, rather more on liquorice, with a little mint in the aftertaste that just cleans your palate. Comments: another faultless oloroso-ed Glendronach. The 1995 was a little fresher and maltier, hence a marginally higher score. SGP:551 - 89 points.

We’ve got bags of other sherried Glendronachs yet to taste, but that’ll happen later.

(and thank you, Joy and Nicolas)

Check the index of all Glendronach I've tasted so far