GlenDronach Allardice 18 Year

Tried at Shebeen's with John. Feb 18, 2017. 2nd in a flight of 4. About the most smoke we currently can enjoy, which is very little because it wasn't even in the description. Our 3rd favourite of the flight $17/dram in house Founded in 1826 the GlenDronach distillery is one of the oldest registered distilleries in Scotland. This offering paying homage to the founder James Allerdice has been 100% matured in Spanish Olorosso Sherry casks. This also celebrates the distillery’s tradition of Olorosso Sherry maturation - though more and more since 2002 - Bourbon casks are starting to be used more often at the distillery

[LOOK] Almandine [NOSE] Maraschino mix, wet cedar, rose petals, juiced tropical fruits, lemon glaze, rum, soaked vanilla beans [PALATE] Pineapple juice, Turkish delights, toasted citrus peel, burnt loaf heel, smoked woods, cantaloupe, pine nuts, hot, whole grain bread [FINISH] Hot, toasted malts, long and subtly sweet, steady [MOUTHFEEL] Pretty intense, only extremes cut through the heat

Slight burn in the mouth but not down the throat.

I really love this whisky. I much prefer the viscosity/ oiliness of a Glendronach over thinner spirits such as Glenfarclas. Also the toffee flavour of Olorosso cask influence vs the much sweeter PX. This was one of the 18 yr bottles that contained much older stock so it'll be interesting to see how the next bottle I buy turns out Ok update a 3 years later and a new bottle...one of the last from Billy Walker. Has it held it's own against time and my evolving palette? The answer is a firm yes. Now a 4.75 is a bit high on my current rating scale it's more a 4.25 on an off day (for my palate) and 4.5 on a good one. This dram on a clean palate may initially be a bit reticent and not fully come into it's own but man does it do well as a final night cap. Given this is a recently opened bottle I know it'll mellow, evolve and shine further in it's lifetime on my shelf. Update. Yeah back to 4.5 to 4.75 territory already. There really isn't anything like it. Update 2: Well yes there is it appears. In a later match up between this, the original 15 Revival and the new the old 15 yr was a winner 4.75. This and the new 15 pretty close.