GlenDronach Allardice 18 Year

Not a sample per-se, but I am near the end of the bottle and I never did a "proper" review of this (some of you may recall my Christmas soliloquy from last year). This is the rare bottle that remains constant from start to finish, and only gets better with air. These older sherry monsters really oxidize well, and only reach their peak after they've been open 5-6 months. This one certainly did. I have one of the older 2017 bottlings, which means this is 22-23 years old. It's certainly different than younger sherry monsters. In place of bright red fruits and raisins, there's old, old oak, leather, prunes, and a VERY dry aftertaste. The dryness is almost too much at times unless you let it sit on your tongue for a very long time. Many of you have written about how difficult it is to describe that "old" whisky flavor, and I'm finding myself coming up short as well. This is something to be experienced. So how does it compare to the 21 Parliament? There's about a $70-100 price difference for starters, and you're getting comparably aged juice. If you have to money, my taste prefers the 21. I like PX, which is missing from the 18. I think the Glendronach house style is best with a blend of PX and Oloroso (none of this Port nonsense we've seen lately...). The Oloroso only aging comes off a bit too dry for me, but hey, that's just one snob's opinion. Still an amazing dram, and the .25 off is only for that overly dry finish. Cheers!

Rich, loads of spice (cinnamon, star anise, cloves). Light peat and sherry at the finish. A delight!

Beautiful, dark amber right out of the box. Rich honey coat on the glass. Mellow vanillas, toffee, and maybe even some dark chocolate notes on the nose. Sweet, lasting caramel, and a perfect fruity finish. Refined to the core. One of my absolute favorites from GD.🏆 (SA)