GlenDronach 15 years Sherry Cask 70CL

The GlenDronach distillery is built on the banks of the Dronach Burn in the Forque Valley. This is located between Aucharnie and Inverurie, east of the town of Huntley, just outside Speyside. The name GlenDronach means "valley of the Dronach", as the distillery was named after the small river Dronach that flows past it. GlenDronach was built in 1826 by James Allerdice, the son of a wealthy landowner there. Due to neglect and poor management, the distillery quickly went into decline, and in 1837 it even burned down completely. After the distillery was rebuilt by Walter Scott and after many resales, the company was sold to Teacher's in 1960 and to Allied Breweries in 1976. Not much has changed at the GlenDronach distillery since it was built. The two wash stills and the two spirit stills were still fired with coal until the closure. There are nine washbacks made of Oregon pine. The fire to dry the malt was fired in the kiln from peat that was cut in the immediate vicinity. Both new and used sherry and bourbon casks are used for maturation. For the production of the spirit and also for the soaking of the barley during malt production, water is obtained from a spring: "The Source". This spring is located about 6.5 kilometers east of the distillery. Water is pumped from the Dronach Burn to cool the condensers. The distillery was mothballed in 1995. After reopening in 2002, the complete range of 12, 15 and 18 year olds was reintroduced in 2009. In the meantime, an 8 and a 21 year old have been followed, as well as a regular batch of Single Cask bottlings.

Tasting notes
Colour: deep mahogany. Nose: very complex, with beautiful aromas of the oloroso sherry, with notes of balsamic, mushrooms, raisins and parsley, then develop notes of walnut liqueur, beef, light hint of Madeira, soy sauce, some camphor and full notes at the end of maraschino. Taste: grand, rich with delicious notes of sherry, coffee, chocolate, plums, dates, dried bananas and orange liqueur, then fine aromas of spices, cloves, cinnamon and some star anise. The finish is quite long with powerful aromas of the spices coming up, which then flatten out a bit with loose notes of blackcurrant jam. Great that there are still distilleries that still have stocks of these old style whiskies matured on oloroso sherry casks.