GlenDronach 12 Review and Tasting Notes

The Story

As an avowed sherry lover and big time fan of the Aberlour A'bunadh and the Dalmore's 15 year offering, it was only a matter of time before I made my way over to GlenDronach.  When sherried malts are the topic discussion, the GlenDronach drams always find their way into the conversation of the sherriest of the sherries.  It even calls itself "The Sherry Cask Connoisseur."

Although it has clearly earned this reputation, recently GlenDronach has followed the Glenmorangie path and begun to produce other wine cask finished expressions, including Sauternes, Port, and Madeira.  I, for one, would love to try those, bank account permitting.

GlenDronach's 12 year expression is exclusively aged in sherry casks, a mix of Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso.


Tasting Notes

Nose:  Ahhhh, now there's the nose of a sherried malt.  Thick with dried raisins and berries and apricots with heavy leather and drying paint.  Miles and miles of sherry resin without drifting into the realm of unpleasant, although I found myself wishing for more subtly at the point of attack.

Palate: There is a rush of spiced BBQ sauce that has been carmelized to sweet rather than tart.  There is the resiny, leather quality underneath along with a boatload of mouth drying tannins.  The fruits find their way in later in much the same way as they presented in the nose: dried raisins and berries with a dose of apricots.  Similar to the nose, I found myself feeling that the attack was rather blunt.

Finish: There is a short to medium length finish complete with mouth drying tannins.  Something acidic finds it's way in midway through, but I was unable to identify it.  Malt and grains.


Review

Honestly, I had some difficulty deciding exactly how I felt about this dram.  I *felt* like I should like it more than I *actually* liked it.  As a lover of sherry and huge fan of other sherried drams such as the A'bunadh and Dalmore 15, I was expecting to be floored.  The GlenDronach 12 consistently rates highly within the scotch world of sherry bombs.

And I did like it.  It has some decent flavors.  It is relatively enjoyable to drink.

But I didn't love it, and at night when I would reach to my scotch cabinet, I found my hand passing by it again and again in favor of other drams.  Frankly, I can't see myself buying it in the future for this very reason.

I think the problem was that it was a tad simple.  It had heavy sherry flavors.  It attacked with them hard.  It was enjoyable in that regard... but that was it.  The attack had no subtlety.  There was no finesse, no elegance.  It was like a caricature of what a sherried malt should be.

I think if you're looking for a sherry bomb, there are better directions to go.  I'd recommend the A'bunadh, which has all the sherry bomb you could want in it along with a hefty dose of complexity and surprising refinement.  While the price is higher, bear in mind that this is mitigated somewhat by the cask strength bottling.


Scotch Dreams Score: 80