GlenDronach 25 1993 Single Cask Hand-Filled Distillery Exclusive

Thanks to /u/distillasian for this sample.

So as part of Distillasian’s trip around Scotland, he left the island of Islay (I assume kicking and screaming) and came back to the mainland to hit up one of his favourite distilleries, GlenDronach.

During the shopping he did, in which he showed more restraint than I have in the past, he chose GlenDronach 25 1993 Single Cask Hand-Filled Distillery Exclusive from the many options at the distillery.

This Oloroso Sherry matured dram comes from before the recent takeover, before the change away from peat, and before they sealed away all of those murders in the basement to ensure that their souls infused into the spirit, thus completing the prophecy.

I mean, where can this go wrong? Older is always better right? Well, not really, otherwise retirement homes would be the number one pickup spot. Distillasian could have his own tastes, his own thoughts, his own belief in what’s great.

So let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Price: Buy it at the Distillery, yo.

Region: Highland

Distilled: 19/03/1993

Bottled: 18/09/2018

Cask: Oloroso Sherry Cask

Cask Number: 698

Abv: 57.7%

Colour: 7.5YR 5/10

Nose: Gingersnaps, lemon zest, almond cream

Big spice and developed cereal notes. Lovely acidity mixes with the sweetness, and there’s this creamy nuttiness (insert your own joke here) on the nose.

It’s a bit shy, all things considered. Yes, there are some big notes, but they dominate or take time to really pull out.

Taste: Brine, dry apple, sulphur, cinnamon, cocoa, raisin, macadamia

So if the nose is shy, then the taste is that overly confident sumbitch that we all wanted to be until we became okay with ourselves (or eventually will, I believe in you).

Salty, dry, sherry dominant. Everything is by itself, nothing is melding here and getting along. This is eating all the cookie ingredients instead of making the dough if you will.

Finish: Cardamon, brine, lemon juice, oak, rich caramel, cashew

More of that kitchen sink dram now. Throw everything at you in a big ole bucket. Lots of caramel, orange, and oak, some brine, some more acidity. Oddly not as dry now.

Conclusion: An all over the place rich well-developed dram. It follows in the footsteps of very few whiskies (the most prominent being some of the earlier Black Arts) in that “we’re not getting along but there’s a bunch of us” way.

If you’re looking for uniqueness, this isn’t it. However, if you’re looking for an insane amount of sherry influences with a strong acidity and caramel from the malt, then may I introduce you to a twenty-five-year-old dram.

So I guess we should all be picking up at the old folks home. Better rush, otherwise you’ll end up with the ugly one.

86/100

Scotch review #1023, Highland review #172, Whisky Network review #1608