Single Malt
Scotland
Sherry
As of 2024, the Glendronach distillery's flagship range has a smart new look, and here is its 15 Year Old single malt. This expression spent its time maturing in a selection of Pedro Ximénez and oloroso sherry casks from Andalucía in Spain in the Highland distillery's traditional dunnage warehouses. A hugely flavoursome, aromatic and complex sipper.
Coffee beans, sponge cake drenched in sherry, mint leaf, slightly buttery, sultana.
Oily walnut, new leather, blackberry and apple crumble, toasted brown sugar and a touch of liquorice root.
Fresh ginger, waxy orange, caramelised dried fruit and a hint of cigar box.
The overall character is big on sherry, particularly that dark sweetness from the Jimenez casks. On the nose, there's moderating nuttiness from the Olorosso: sherry-soaked sultanas perhaps. Sip it, and there's plenty of dark demerara sugar and rum, with a sort of chilli-heat at the back of the throat. The finish is luxuriantly dark chocolate orange and bitters - an Old Fashioned dialled up to ten. An interesting malt, returning to its former glory, maybe?
