Tastes

This is good stuff, Glendronach at its finest. Beautiful golden colouring. The aftertaste goes on and on; as the label says ginger spice, nuts and hint of smoke. The whole thing balances out beautifully. At a tasting i ran this bottle got decimated in no time so I had to go get another bottle promptly as there was only a couple left in NZ. 4.5 rating and at just over $70USD a bargain. Rounding up to a 5 based on value as it holds its own against whiskies twice the price. Update May 18. Now many whiskeys later I still think this is a great dram but more in the 4 to 4.25 range. The dram I had was bettered by a couple of others on the night

Number 3 on my whisky bar journey - batch 55. Damn this is good stuff. Wave upon wave of sherry and cherry assault my palate along with a decent kick of alcohol - 60.9% in fact. I'm not a big cask strength fan as the alcohol usually drowns out the rest of the whisky cogners resulting in an unbalanced dram. A sign of a good whisky in my books is one where despite the alcohol strength it doesn't overpower what the cask has to offer and this is a great example. Still I added a few drops of water which really opened it up further. At $70USD a bottle this is a steal. Definitely going to get a bottle of this stuff. Give it a 4.5 rounding up for value

Number 2 whisky in my new local whisky bar. Nose gives me toffee straight away, reminds me of Glendronach 15, taste not bad at all. Viscous on the palate, hard to distinguish more than toffee, runs hot for 42% but not bad not bad at all for under $60USD a bottle. Definitely my type of whisky. If i had to sum this up I'd call this a poor man's Glendronach 15. That's not an insult as its a different price point and I like it. Just doesn't have the flavour depth and alcohol balance is slightly out of kilt. High 3's rounding up to a 4 on value.

I was big into my rums a couple of years ago before I found my way into whisky and now haven't drunk one for ages. When i first got into whisky Balvanie 12 was a stand out but then i gravitated towards the heavier peated sherried end so I'm surprised i really like this. Retails for under $90USD here which is a fair price. Anyway the whisky itself: sweet, spice, rum influence which all comes together nicely. Interestingly you notice the rum finish most in the aftertaste which lingers nicely. Tried this in a new whisky bar near my work...definately keen to try again. Solid 4. Update 6/3. Often when I try whiskies I loved a while back they don't hold up due to changing palate etc. This one actually improved. 4.25. Rum, spice, coconut and toffee. I think I like it as I find most rum to sweet these days whereas here I get a rum fix without the excessive sweetness.

I got this bottle at a good price $100 USD. I've had this bottle opened for a while and quite a few mates have had a taste. It's been an interesting ride now I'm down to the last quarter. I like this whisky. It does however have a characteristic that it shares with Bowmore 15...cat piss. It tastes like it smells. Might seem weird but it is what it is. Even more weird it still tastes great. It's not one dimensional though, lovely oak and other aspects and in it's early days of opening the bottle lovely light oiliness. In tastings of up to 15 bottles I've run it's been a crowd favourite

I put this head to head against a Glendronach, Macallan and Benriach 12 in a tasting session I ran and it came out on top...just. Upon opening it had a lovely viscosity and mild sherry flavour profile. It's def not the sherry bomb profile I love and after a few months open it's definitely faded and got more bitter. Despite the fact it's cheap for a 25 year I'd much prefer a dram of Glendronach 15 Revival, 18 or 21 over this or even the Benromach 10 or Oban 14 I just had along side this and at $130USD I think I'm rating this down to a 3

I ran a tasting recently with a bunch of workmates. 4 Sherried whiskies, Glendronach 12, Benriach 12, Macallan 12 and Glenfarclas 25 and an Ardbeg 10 to cleanse the palate :-). It was interesting as this was my least favorite of the 4 Sherries. I rated them Glen 25, Glen 12, Ben 12 and Mac 12 but a number rated this their top. It seemed to be those new to whisky and I'm not sure what I'm missing but this just didn't have a lot going for it. The colour looked awesome and I thought right my first Macallan is going to give me sherry in spades. But no...it gave me caramel coloring in spades I suspect. I tried again weeks later but still didn't blow me away. Given it was nearly twice the price of a Glendronach 12 it gets a 3.5. Not bad but definitely doesn't live up to the hype. I'm rounding down rather than up to a 4 given the price. It'll be interesting to see if this opens up a bit now I have the bottle opened. Update: It hasn't really at all. Bitter oak and a sherryish flavouring. It's missing complexity and soul

And now to number 5 on my Paul John flight. Started off middling score for brilliance, took a down turn for edited and classic and then up again for bold. This i like similarly to the bold but I think just didn't quite match up so 3 star it is. As an aside note straight after this whisky the founder/owner was very kind and pulled out a single sherry cask not for sale whisky 60%+ but very drinkable. Good all round tasting. The bold definately wins the day for me

Number 4 on the Paul John journey. Was disappointed with the Edited and Classic. This is a big step up. Lovely sweetness marries off against the peat and lovely creaminess carries the flavour. Not to sure if a 3 or 4. Perhaps 3.5 but will round up for now. Have to reassess sometime against an islay. After moving onto the peated 55% and sherry cask 60% I was graciously allowed another generous drop of this. Still held its own very nicely despite the lower abv. Whilst I don't hold Jim Murray's ratings in much regard I do see why he gave this a liquid gold and it's a top award winner for them. The only one of the range I'll def buy a bottle of

Ok number 3 on my JP journey. I love my peat. I'm a lagavullin and laphroaig man through and through. Maybe they shouldn't have poured me a classic 55% before hand but not a fan. Weird peat taste, bit of salt. Not much else