There is an old saying, "every rule has an exception", and that eveb applies to the almighty Glendronach, a distillery that seemed undefeated in my humble critics.
I have had quite a few of Glendronach's Cask Strength releases, and i just gave a perfect score to a couple of them, but the latest expression, Batch No. 12, was not my favorite.
Bottled at 58.2%abv, it has been matured in oloroso and Px sherry casks.
On the nose it starts buttery and young. White wine, white chocolate and almonds. It smells like "new make" whisky too much. It appears overly young.
On the palate it is slightly better. White chocolate, almonds, spices. peppery feeling.
Afteraste again feels young, with blurred notes of bitter chocolate and spices.
Overall, not much happened here. This is the first time that you put the words "Glendronach", "Oloroso", "Cask Strength" and "Pedro Ximenez" together and you dont get complexity, beautiful aroma notes and a rewarding finish. A very average dram, underwhelming and a little dissapointing, my score for it is 85 over 100, and i believe this might be the lowest score i have given to a whisky from my favorite distillery.