The GlenDronach Allardice Aged 18 Years, Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 70cl

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Palate: Thin body. Prune up front, with more sherry resin, tobacco (shisha), and raw apple cider vinegar. Dry, really, without much of the sugar one would associate with sherry bombs. Raisiny in the extreme. The last time I reviewed the GlenDronach 18 Years Allardice, it was from a batch bottled in 2013. But now I’ve secured a sample of a release that was bottled on October 15th in 2019. That means this particular GlenDronach 18 Years Allardice I’m reviewing is actually a lot older than you might think, maybe even 23 or 24 years old. To conclude the original article, I wrote “ Let’s just hope that in a couple of years, when they can finally release whiskies with accurate age statements, they are able to produce the same top quality as they do now.” That hope doesn’t seem to have come to fruition. Sure, some of the single cask releases are still top notch, but also priced pretty much out of everybody’s range. As far as the more affordable releases go: the latest Glendronach Cask Strength Batch #9 was underwhelming.

Finish: Deep, dark, fungal depths of resinous sherry. There’s a lot in there to plumb. Fades with a little mint and berry, and some mouth-drying barrel tannin. No bitterness. No, this is not the whisky they serve at the Member’s Bar at Westminster. Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords have their own custom whisky, as does the Speaker of the Commons, but this whisky isn’t it.I’m not sure when Dave became just a fellow consumer, deciding who to give “our” money to, instead of a salesman, but I wonder if Driscoll steered anyone else away from Allardice, or just certain people that he was already selling a dolly full of booze to? The result is a range of whiskies that feature a deep amber color and a rich complex flavor profile that brilliantly joins a deeply favored, robust whisky character with the sweet, dried dark fruit notes of PX sherry cask maturation, along with the drier, citrus zest and fruity and nutty notes contributed from Oloroso sherry butts. All the whiskies are bottled without any chill filtration and with natural color. The color is a rich, deep gold. On the nose, there are notes of milk chocolate and brown sugar, along with notes of apple, pear, cherry and a bit of grilled pineapple and some anise.

Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. The company has a long history of producing sherried malts, maturing its whiskies either in Oloroso sherry butts or in a combination of Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez (PX) casks. The Service has been prepared by us solely for information purposes to Members and the Service is based on information we consider reliable and we obtain the contents of the Service from a number of different third party sources (including Contributions), but we do not endorse, support, represent, warrant or guarantee the completeness, truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of the Services and any information therein. The following indicators should be taken as only a guide and not a set of hard and fast rules. Some "premium" whiskeys really are quite terrible, while some mass market products are good enough to pour into a decanter and serve to the Duke of Edinburgh. A+: A masterpiece and one of the ten best whiskeys of its type. Above five stars. On the palate, the whisky has the dried fruit sweetness typical of sherry matured whiskies. There are notes of raisin, prune and apple, candied orange and lemon zest, some peach and tropical fruit flavors, along with anise and spice notes of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. In addition, there are notes of fresh espresso coffee and walnut.Let’s just dive in immediately, shall we? There’s a causality between the mothballing of GlenDronach and the true age of their age statement whiskies. The distillery was closed from 1996 until 2001, and that gap of six years forces GlenDronach to use older whisky than necessary. Take a long hard look at the infographic below and see for yourself. You are responsible for all activities through your account. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide to us in relation to your account, and for updating it where necessary. You are not allowed to create multiple accounts. We may terminate or temporarily suspend your account to protect you, ourselves or our partners from (suspected) identity theft or other (suspected) fraudulent (e.g. false, misleading, deceptive) activity. You have the obligation to keep your login credentials confidential. You shall not authorize any others to use or access your account. Sherry sweetness, dark fruit leather, brown sugar, x-mas spice, citrus peels and some bits of orchard fruit. The finish is long, sweet with dried fruit notes, dried orange peel, bittersweet chocolate and a lingering ginger pepperiness. With Water: A few drops of water add a ton of vanilla and a port wine-like sweetness. It also evens-out the palate, providing a little more fresh fruit to offset the prunes. Water is an excellent idea here.

The information and quotes for this blog post originally appeared in a Dutch article by Bert Rutkowski for Whisky Etc. His article was published in early 2014, mine followed shortly thereafter in February 11th 2014. The final update to this article is from October 14th 2021.

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Like all the GlenDronach expressions the whisky has an oily, viscous character with a pronounced palate weight. If any provision of these Terms is held invalid, the remainder of the Terms shall continue in full force and effect.