LeeEvolved
GlenDronach Allardice 18 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
May 11, 2017 (edited April 13, 2020)
It's a chilly, rainy night here in Virginia so I figured it's a great time to get into some single malts. I opened this bottle several weeks ago on my trip to visit family in WV. I took a few sips but didn't really sit down and analyze things. I might as well put it through its paces tonight. The GlenDronach 18 Allardice. This malt comes in at 46% ABV, has no color added and isn't chill filtered. This particular batch was named after Glendronach's founder James Allardes.
It's a deep mahogany color and makes some silky legs in the taster. The nose is very sweet: caramel and vanilla along with some dark fruits like plums and raisins. The first full Oloroso sherry casks are also very present. It smells great.
The palate is all GlenDronach spice: ginger, spice cake and orange peel. There's a bit of a nutty, oily flavor present as well. It's fantastic. I really love GlenDronach and this one takes that to the next level. It's ridiculously smooth.
The finish is all spice. Those dark fruits and that spice cake hang around awhile and really coat the tongue through the entire sip. The ABV is well hidden and those 18 long years in the sherry casks have made a wonderfully smooth whisky.
This is one of my favorite single malts of all time. It's deliciously sweet with that signature GlenDronach spice profile. The price point is on the higher side as I believe I paid close to $180 but this is a bottle I'd love to have on hand all the time. Great, great juice. 4.75 stars. Cheers.
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@Soba45 - wow, I literally typed out my response to your Cairdeas review comment and scrolled down and saw this one. You know what they say about great minds....
@LeeEvolved Damn I wish I lived in the USA so I could beg for a sample to be sent my way!
@LeeEvolved I’m going to guess it’ll be pretty good. If that bottle is Barrie’s first mark into the big boy club, I’m sure she’d have done a bang up job
@Soba45 @PBMichiganWolverine - I’m going to pop the cork on the Glendronach Master Vintage 25yo really soon and that should be a glaring indicator of their current stock, as well as Rachie Barrie’s blending and barrel picking skills. That was her first attempt and blending a “big boy bottle” I think.
@PBMichiganWolverine Yeah it's only going to get worse in my opinion for anything not single cask...ah nice that would be interesting. Ah the good old days..mutter mutter ..
@Soba45 I happened to dig up a GlenDronach 15 from 90s—-it’s surprising how deep the color is from back then. It seems like with every evolution, they’re taking a step back
Stock up. MoM and whiskey exchange are out of stock and can't get more so sounds like a resets about to occur with younger juice or perhaps complete repackaging
I agree Rick! It's quite an "illness" but damn, I love it. lol
Thanks for the review, I'll be in London in four months and grabbing a bottle of this at the much better U.K. prices is one of my to do's.
GlenDronach 18 is a great malt, however, I still prefer the 15yo Revival.
Gees $180. That's crazy! We get it for literally half that price here. $90USD a bottle. I was thinking this week what great value it was. I've run out so will have to stock up again sometime. Great review as always definitely agree with everything you said :-)
In my next life, I want to be born as Lee. ;-)
If you made the store a whisky/golf gear combo shop I'd just sign my paycheck over to you guys every Thursday. I'm currently working on a bag of $300-400 drivers (like the commercial). To be the biggest and most forgiving golf club I can't seem to master it. To be honest, though, over the last 2 weeks I've slid back into craft beer. My concert going friends have pulled me back into IPAs and sour beers and I dropped a couple hundred bucks on some fresh cans while I was in NC for a music festival last weekend. I need a cheaper hobby.
I'll go in as a partner for your whisky only liquor store. Can't pass up an opportunity like that!
Jack: it's gotta be only whiskey. You'll go broke if your store stocks any other spirit. And god forbid...no wine, especially that rose pink stuff. Lee won't come near it.
I'm thinking of opening up a liquor store in Lee's neighborhood. I'd stock only high-end products
Man, I'm going to be broke if I keep hanging around here. :)