Day Thirteen in the Whisky Advent Calendar
*In this series, I’m working my way through the 2015 Master of Malt Whisky Advent.
I have the Glendronach 12yr and the Glendronach 15yr in my whisky vault at our school. That’s actually true of 10 of the thirteen whiskies I’ve tried so far. The downside of having over 300 whiskies in your own personal whisky vault is that when people try to surprise you with whisky, it rarely works. The upside is…. over 200 whiskies in your own personal whisky vault.
But I like Glendronach. I’m looking forward to trying to find something new in this one.
History
Glendronach distillery is on the far eastern tip of the Speyside region located in Aberdeenshire. It’s owned by BenRiach and is well sought after by blenders. It’s currently used in Ballantine’s and Teacher’s among others.
It was founded in 1826 and was one of the first distilleries to use sherry barrels. It’s traded hands many times over the years, and almost every time it was because the owners wanted to secure the use of the whisky in their blending recipes.
And it stands just as strong on its own two feet as it does in a blend.
Tasting
Because it’s in the Speyside region, it still brings first notes of butterscotch to the nose, but the heavy use of Sherry barrels shows up just as strong.
The taste is all sherry, butter, and almost a raisin vibe. I hate raisins, so luckily it’s a small addition.
I wanted to mix this one up a bit, so I added two drops of water. That brought out the grass and grain in the smell. And it added a slight tinge of nutty bitterness to the taste that I love.
You should try that on any whisky. Neat, add two drops, add two more. You’ll find that almost every whisky has a sweet spot and it changes even in the same distillery.
Glendronach 12yr with two drops of water. Nailed it.