GlenDronach Revival 15 Year (2009-2015)

Simply delightful. Nose: figgy caramel, sweet and savory sherry, rich oak (exeptional quality casks, similar to Benromach). Slight salty-sour vegetal note in the background, like a half-sour garlic pickle (in a very good way). Palate: crisp sweet apple, more quality oak, deep, earthy, slowly bittering, yet still somehow delicate. Finish: warming vanilla, bitter oak spices, drying orange peel. Many make comparisons to Macallan, but this is more reminiscent of a Dalmore, albeit sans cocoa, in my opinion. Dry glass: sweet malt and earthy Brazil nuts.

No idea what this will be like when it returns from its 3 year hiatus, but my bottle actually has 21 year old juice in it. Not typically my flavor profile (I prefer heavy peat) but this stuff is fantastic.

I've been drinking this bottle for a year now and I've swung between this and the 18 year Glendronach as my favourite. I lined this up against the 15, 21 and 25 Glenfarclas last night (newly opened) and this came out on top. In one word 'toffee'....in spades. For me perhaps to much but I'm still rating it a 5 as even after a year it has a richness and depth like no other sherried whisky. It really has improved over the year I've had the bottle open which is rare for whiskeys I find as their flavour usually fades. Update many years later and another bottle. This is truly great stuff surpassing the bottle of the 18yr I matched it up against.

I think I found another contender for an "everyday dram". I'm quite liking this---the aroma is like walking into a leather tannery. In Mumbai, in the Dharavi district ( a huge flavela, similar to Rio's), I remember entering into this one tannery. You get the smell of soft leather, cigarettes, burnt earth, and mud. That's what this smells like. In a good way. Taste is crisp apples, molasses, and Dunkin Donuts hazelnut coffee. I love the finish...warming and nutty. I need to look into buying a full bottle. This sample was courtesy of Davie...thank you!!!