The GlenDronach Original Aged 12 Years Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 70cl

Product Information

Glendronach distillery and Glendronach 12-year-old (Original or otherwise) are very good examples of this simple truth, as a cursory examination of its character and history will show. In fact, Glendronach distillery has had something of a chimerical character for at least the last fifty years. It’s worth remembering that for a considerable time in the relatively recent past there was no agreement even on which region Glendronach was a part of. 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. Taste: This is neat by the way. I rarely add water to my scotch. I tried in the beginning, but it really doesn't do anything for me. Mild honey. Burn comes on very very slowly and never gets intense. Finish is honey and chocolate. Toblerone? Butterfinger?

In 2004, with the Sherry 15-year-old now discontinued, Glendronach 12 Year Old Original was revived, with the strength at 40% but retaining its ‘original’ 1980s cask recipe of ‘Sherry Wood and Traditional Oak Barrels’. This unloved Original was the last of its type before Billy Walker’s Benriach company bought Glendronach in 2008.The GlenDronach 12 is aged in Oloroso casks and then finished in PX casks to impart a heavenly bit of sweetness to it… at least that’s what the marketing wants us to believe. So what about the truth? What does this 188 year old distillery (owned by BenRiach) have to offer us besides a 12 year old sherried single malt at a decent price? It’s 12 years of tastiness all rolled up and dumped into a 750ml glass bottle. It’s a really nice, accessible and tasty single malt that just about anyone could easily grab off the shelf and enjoy. There’s enough complexity for “seasoned pros” to enjoy while not so overly complex that less experienced drinkers would feel lost or overwhelmed. It’s a simple, straightforward and tasty whisky that I’m enjoying every single second of.

Development: Again, mild on my palate, but in an interesting and subtle way. I taste the sherry influence mostly at this point. Honey and syrup dominate, with some ginger and pepper sneaking through. Let this one linger on the middle of your tongue for a while -- mmmmm! Nevertheless, the presentation of a whisky surely gives us an insight into the attitude and mindset of a producer when bottling an expression (be it a special release or a core range product). The distiller and blender are saying to us, “This is the best product we can deliver. This is our spirit, and we are proud.” With more and more new distilleries releasing inaugural bottlings and beginning to distribute their core range, we are seeing these three requirements met from almost all of them. They aren’t produced for blends: they are setting up their stall and proudly displaying their liquid in as natural a form as they can. Sherry lolls out of the glass along with some sweet vermouth, ripe juicy dark fruit, cocoa and honey. Light notes of sweet malt dance with an earthy avocado like undertone and a touch of tobacco. Not wildly complex, but pleasant nonetheless. Regardless of whether the Service offers the functionality to contribute, you are solely responsible and liable for any content and information that you create, upload, post, publish, link to, duplicate, transmit, record, display or otherwise make available on the Service or to other Members, such as chat messages, text messages, videos, audio, audio recordings, music, pictures, photographs, text and any other information or materials, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted (“Contributions”).Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. For a period of about a decade from around the mid-1980s, Glendronach had two 12 Year Old expressions. These were a new Glendronach 12 Year Old Matured in Sherry Casks; and the first incarnation of Glendronach Original, which was matured in a mix of plain casks and sherry casks. There are a large number of slightly different editions of both these whiskies, at both 40% and 43%.

The last 10 years have seen Glendronach concertedly reinforce its reputation for producing heavily sherried Speyside whiskies – barring the release of the 8 year old Hielan I’ve rarely seen an expression from the distillery in recent years that has not played entirely to its sherry matured DNA. This has become even more the case since the distillery’s sale (in April 2016) to Brown-Forman which has resulted in the ending of peated runs at the Huntly-based distillery – you’ll still find Glenronach Peated on the shelves, but don’t be expecting any more to be produced once that consignment has been and gone. Glendronach has carved out a popular niche in the whisky market and its owners are keen to exploit that positioning. Rightfully so – reputations are not formed overnight and every oddly finished or contrarily peated expression fails to provide the underpinning that Dronach is the place to go for big sherry. As such, it seems these variants of Glendronach have been consigned to the dustbin of history (all of the wood finishes are now listed under ‘ Archive’) – at least for now. Sweet, with a little alcohol nip on entry. You can taste the sherry influence, a little pepper on the development. Water tones down the sweetness a little, makes the development a bit dryer. (22.5/25) Glendronach has, in recent years, been increasingly recognised for the exceptional quality and value of its single malts. Its history has seen the distillery burn down and founder James Allardice declare bankruptcy, followed by a scattering of ownerships before the brand’s current stewardship under the Brown-Forman Corporation. For international deliveries, including the USA, use the 'Change Location' link above to estimate prices and delivery costs in your local currency. Find out more about international delivery

Try a GlenDronach 12 Year Old Sample…

The first official bottlings of Glendronach 12 Year Old in the 1970s were originally single vintage bottlings from 1962, 1963 and 1964. These were bottled at 75 proof - 43%. However, the majority of these editions had very little or no sherry influence. They were often massive, waxy fruitbombs and frequently had a phenolic dimension as well, with smoke, ash and sooty notes quite common. It goes without saying that these were incredible whiskies, but they are utterly dissimilar to Glendronach 12 Year Old as we know it today. Very malty for a brand with a sherried reputation, which is explained by a double cask maturation. It seems to me that the sherry affects the nose rather than the palate, with nuts and fruit. Is that hay sensation coming from some peat? Interesting. A sample that was oxidized for a couple weeks did not change dramatically, but it did gain slightly grassier notes (as is common), so I marginally preferred this when fresh. This expression, reviewed in a Highland whisky glass, is reviewed in my usual manner, allowing it to settle after which I take my nosing and tasting notes, followed by the addition of a few drops of water, waiting, then nosing and tasting. In all the current hoo-hah, it’s rarely mentioned that it’s actually extremely unusual for any whisky under 46% not to be chill filtered. The haze that chill filtration is designed to remove is caused by long chain fatty acids forming in the whisky in cold conditions (which frequently occur during transit). However, the magic 46% at which chill filtration is not required is just a rough guide - different whiskies will have fatty acids whose lipid tails clump together at slightly varying temperatures, so not all sub-46% whiskies exposed to low temperatures will automatically immediately go hazy. Nose: Big sherry, dark chocolate, over ripen grapes, clove, oak, caramel, dry raspberry tea, hybiscus.