LeeEvolved
GlenDronach Tawny Port Finish 15 Year
Single Malt — Highland, Scotland
Reviewed
March 13, 2017 (edited March 2, 2019)
I'm finally getting around to reviewing the third of three samples I provided for our first round of the Scottish Distillery trade group: GlenDronach 15yo Tawny Port Finish. This highland malt comes in at 46% ABV and is non-chill filtered. It's a shiny, new penny copper in the Glencairn and produces lots of long, skinny legs in the glass when you twirl it.
The nose on this thing stretches the definition of complexity to another level. There's honey, freshly cut oak, red berries and my new favorite descriptor- Pop Tarts toaster pastries. Think back to when you were a kid and you cracked apart a fresh, strawberry Pop Tart right out of the toaster. That smell awaits you when you sink your nose down into this whisky. It's incredible. I want to just keep jamming my nose into the Glencairn and remembering my childhood. No, mom, I don't want to wear the corduroy jeans again!!!....
Unfortunately, the palate doesn't deliver on the level that the nose does. There's such a heavy, fresh cut oak note that you really have to push it aside and concentrate to pick up any port barrel flavors. Sadly, I actually couldn't pick up much from the wine casks. If you hold this dram on your tongue, don't introduce any air to it, you can begin to pick up toffee and some red berries, but the base GlenDronach spice takes over so quickly it almost overpowers the entire sip. Almost.
The finish is heavy, pepper spice that I've picked up on every GlenDronach whisky I've ever tried, so that was to be expected. It's a long, warm finish that will leave the uninitiated gasping a bit for breath. I like that feeling because it just goes on and on. It actually makes me want to hit the bottle again and again. I'm a GlenDronach junkie, through and through. Despite the lack of actual port wine flavor I want more and more of this. This bottle is almost gone and I will definitely miss it once it is. If you see this bottle on a shelf near you let me know so I can swoop in and buy it all. I'm addicted like that. 4.75 stars. Cheers, my friends and seriously, let me know if this is available near you. I'm tweakin', I'm tweakin'!!!
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Just had a dram of the 12, and I was starstruck. Reading reviews like this makes me want to deep dive into the distillery. Keep up the excellent work gentleman.
@ Rick- we have Total Wines here in VA it's just that they only sell wine and beer because liquor is state run. Even if they did ship they couldn't ship it here 😕. But, that is a heck of a price for a really good bottle. I'd be all over it if I were local. @ Slainte- yeah, it was near impossible to pick up much port wine from it because GlenDronach is so heavily spiced, but it is fantastic the way it is. If I were handed this one in a blind tasting I'd swear it was Pedro Ximenez sherry cask finished. Those damn casks are magical.
Now that's a nice review! I have never seen this bottling of GlenDronach before but I'll definitely keep my eyes open. The problem with finishes is that they are often not very substantial. It just adds a thin layer of 'something else' on top of what you already got after 14-15 years of cask maturation.
Total Wine has 1 bottle in Woodbury, MN ($61.99) if you know someone up that way. If you had a Total Wine store nearby you can check to see if they could ship it to that store, but I don't think many states allow this.