So the 12 is good, the new 15 (in my book) is exceptional, the 21 is just plain bank busting but the 18... this is achievable for the majority of us if we can be selective about what (and how much) we drink. The pour is a lovely amber with very sparse, very slow legs. For 18 years there is a surprising amount of honey malt on the nose and a blast of sherry. Off the line the nose more closely resembles the 12 than the 15. Odd. There is plenty of raisin, a bit of hey, caramel, slight lemongrass, slight dark cigar wrapper and maybe a bit of leather and buttered toast. The palate... aged wood, slightly bitter walnut, allspice, cayenne, leather and a dark cigar. The youth that the nose would suggest is nowhere to be found. There might be a base of deeply caramelized malt but no hey or honey (think Oban 14) to speak of. The mouthfeel isn't viscous or oily and is honestly a bit hot. The earthy, aged flavors slowly subside through a layer of varnish and then into a light blanket of raisin and tobacco. Breathing out of my nostrils leaves me feeling like I've smoked a cigar rather than sipped whiskey. My tongue, however, says nutty PX sherry well beyond 4-5 minutes So the nose is deceptive and resembles the 12 but the palate is like the 15 cranked to well above 18. Per sordid internet wisdom it may very well be over 18 as GlenDronach was rumored to blend in much older stock for a while (up until 2016?). I would beg the question - is that a good thing? Like 15-18 year bourbon that tends to be predominated by wood and earthy notes (Rhetoric 21, Kentucky Senator 15, Masters Keep BiB 17, etc) this begs the question can scotch be too old? I honestly have no idea. Glenfarclas 25 is something that I find to be amazingly well rounded. This bottling is a bit overboard for my taste buds. It's not that the aromas and flavors aren't there, but rather how they unfold. I would love some of the honey on the nose to show up alongside the earthy notes on the palate and the sherry-forward finish to play a more mid-palate roll rather than appearing like a ghost in the corner. With further sips it does start to come together but unlike the parabolic flavor explosion of 15 this has it's peaks and valleys leaving me puzzled. Wonderful, but puzzling and expensive when the 15 is very reasonably priced and at least for now reasonably available once again. If you like aged wood and earthy notes this is likely to be your jam and could be well worth the price.