GlenDronach Parliament 21 Year

Fresh citrus smell, light smoke too. Very smooth, almost honey like. Easy finish-light pepper.

Slightly akin to The Macallan rare cask, this is a sherry bomb. Unfortunately the taste and smell is like you are immersing yourself in a humidor. Tobacco notes are very forward. Too Sherry forward.

Nose: Sherry soaked pipe tobacco with a golden-syrup background. A waft of citrus. A fleeting hint of oak cask and black coffee. Palate: Winey syrup turning spicy-dry in the arrival. The development brings out cloves and dry, woody sherry notes. A little earthy and leathery, with sherry-soaked raisins and cherries. A touch of star anise and quite a lot of astringency on the back of the tongue. Finish: Medium-short. Dark chocolate, licorice, tannin. A smoky hint around the edges, but it's almost certainly just barrel-char from the long maturation. This whisky, whilst certainly very mellow and well balanced, seemed oddly washed-out to me. Tasting it was like viewing a beautiful but faded tapestry that I knew would have been stunningly vibrant 300 years ago. There was nothing I actively disliked, but so much seemed to be lacking. Rather than majestic and mature it was just old and tired. This costs $225-285 in Australia and for that money I'd rather buy three bottles of the very good GlenDronach 12 year old, or a bottle of the 18 year old Allardice (which currently contains barrels that are way more than 18 years old) and have change left for a good pub lunch and a pint. "Good" : 84/100 (3.75 stars)