GlenDronach Original 12 Year

On to my second bottle of GlenDronach 12. Tasting side by side with my first bottle it seems to have changed a bit. Getting a deeper tropical fruit flavour on the palate in the older bottle, almost like a jackfruit...Non existent in the new bottle. Interesting. Also the clove/red liquorice flavour is stronger as well. Could it be oxidization? Just under a 1/3 of a bottle left. Maybe...But I think it's a bit older. I purchased it around 2 years ago so it has been opened for a while. Hopefully that's all it is... But it is certainly more well put together with deeper aromas and flavours at the moment. Anyways... Here in Ontario, we have a problem with insanely overpriced single malt scotch. A good example is something like Tomatin 18 retailing at between $45-$50 USD, and about $150 CAD! Absurd. However, here we have a rare example of a bargain. I purchased this on sale for about $75 CAD which works out to around $50 USD (I think)...I have seen people pay upwards of $60 USD so it is one of the very few good deals in Ontario...And to sweeten the deal even more, it's excellent. Nose: Dark chocolate, leather, vanilla, red lollipop, pears, butter cookies, raisins Palate: Slightly tart, sweet, mild burn on the tongue, red rope liquorice is dominant, clove, nutmeg, hay like oloroso sherry finish, mild lemon, granny smith apple. Finish is not very long..The taste lingers a bit, but tartness and sweetness disappear quickly. I've actually never had the pleasure of trying out the standard exclusively sherry matured Macallan 12, but I hear this is better. I can see why...It's very flavourful, and easy to sip plus it won't break the bank. Kinda rare to find decently priced single malt scotch with an age statement, fully matured in ex sherry casks and with no chill filtration. I'm going to assume the casks are American oak based on the price and the fact that generally sherry is aged in American oak, but it's got a dark enough profile that it's hard to tell which type of wood it is. Might not be quite as good as my last bottle, but It's not too drastic. As long as they keep it where it is right now, i'll keep buying it...

Tried this at the whisky extravaganza. Really good. Has fruity and toffee notes. Best of oloroso and pedro ximenez.