cascode
GlenDronach Original 12 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
April 30, 2017 (edited June 29, 2022)
Nose: Strong sweet fruit with a surprise gift of some lovely orange aromas (I didn't get this the first time around, but once noticed it is obvious). The sherry casks were well selected and impart great presence and gravity to the nose. Everything basks in the light of a wonderful aroma that is precisely like the smell of a well controlled sherry warehouse - deep, winey, oaky, redolent of age but without mustiness or mould.
Palate: The nose was so good that on first tasting I could hardly drag myself away to taste the spirit as I was half dreading that the palate would not live up to the first act, but I didn't need to worry. The palate is initially sweet and rich with lots of dried fruits and there is a balance of astringency from the oak that is perfectly right and delightfully interesting.
Finish: Long. The finish showcases the sherry characteristic to perfection.
The mouthfeel is rich, mouthwatering and comforting. In general I'm not a fan of big sherry finishes but this one is so well done it's hard to resist. There is a sense of freshness that gives it a lifted profile. It's a sherry showcase, but not a sherry bomb.
If I had to choose one reasonably priced representative of this style of whisky it would be hard to go past this. Recommended for both quality and value for money. It is one of the malts I routinely pour as an ideal introduction to sherried whisky.
Original rating: "Very Good" : 86/100 (4 stars)
New rating: "Good" : 84/100 (3.75 stars)
80.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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... and just as an aside, I should mention that almost all Australian whisky is released unchillfiltered, natural colour and at 46% abv or more. It’s a fortunate situation due to the tiny size of our distilleries – a mom and dad operation can’t afford snazzy things like chill-filtrators, and the widespread use of first-fill ex-wine and ex-apera (local sherry) casks means there is no need for added colour.
@DjangoJohnson That’s a very interesting point, and no it’s not something I’ve ever had the opportunity to do. The only thing I can say with any certainty is that over the years I’ve drifted towards cask-strength, preferably single-cask outturn, whiskies that have as little done to them as possible. Such expressions just seem to be more consistently good and interesting. On the other hand, some of my favourite whiskies are 40% abv, chill-filtered and coloured. @PBMichiganWolverine It does cost more to chill-filter and add colour, but the difference is more than made up by increased sales. Informed malt enthusiasts represent a tiny fraction of the market compared to casual consumers who would stop buying a given whisky if it was, or turned, cloudy.
@LouisianaLonghorn sometimes advancing civilization requires certain sacrifices on all our parts.
@Scott_E yeah exactly—- should cost more to filter and for that matter, add coloring too. Unless they have data that shows more folks want it to mix and prefer the clear version than cloudy when it’s NCF
From a “manufacturing” perspective, why go through the pains of buying equipment, running a process to filter? Wouldn’t it be cheaper and quick to essentially bottle it? Especially if the difference is marginal (possibly) at best.
@DjangoJohnson is right, we should be testing this….for science.
@DjangoJohnson Interesting thought experiment. The trouble is batch variation is real. I’ve had two GD 12 yr pre-chill filtering. One was an absolute stunner and the other was just above average. I have to believe batch variation vastly overwhelms chill filtering. Would need enough statistical sampling to determine the peak of each bell curve.
@DjangoJohnson really good question. I’ve never tried side by side, but I’m curious now to give it a go.
So just out of curiosity and not to call anyone out, how often have the people on this thread tried the same spirit side-by-side with one glass being non-chill filtered and the other being chill filtered? The only time I believe I've ever had the experience was tasting Jim Beam Bonded (which I think is chill filtered) next to Old Tub (which is non-chill filtered), and in my sample size of one, my experience was that I could taste no obvious difference. It might make a difference depending on the spirit involved, as one experience does not definitively answer the question, but I'm not even sure how often the opportunity arises to test it out. Can you name many whiskies where both types are available?
@LouisianaLonghorn I think the figured the folks who really care of NCF are too low of a number to make an impact on their top line
@PBMichiganWolverine something something about boosting sales in “emerging markets”. They’ve also upped their prices. GD 12 is now about $70 for chill filtered whisky. Bah. I gave my money to Glenallachie now instead before they too get bought up. Ralfy had a whole back and forth with GD PR last year and documented it all in a few of his “extras” videos. Basically GD’s line (in the most polite, professional way possible) was “deal with it”.
@LouisianaLonghorn wait, really? Why?!?! When everyone else is going NCF, why would they start ?
Brown Foreman started chill filtering Glendronach a year or so ago. Breaks my heart.
Update: When I rated this in 2017 it was from a 2015 bottling and that was when Glendronach 12 was particularly good. Recent bottlings have lost something in comparison. I had a pour of this yesterday and decided to revise my original score. It's still good whisky but no longer worth 4 stars, and certainly not worth the 91/100 it has here as an official score.
I've bought this for under $45USD and for that price it's very good value. My favorite 12 year sherried whisky. It does seem to have dropped off a bit over the years though...I'm thinking the earlier 12 years used a portion of older stock