cascode
GlenDronach Parliament 21 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
February 16, 2018 (edited November 15, 2018)
Nose: Sherry soaked pipe tobacco with a golden-syrup background. A waft of citrus. A fleeting hint of oak cask and black coffee.
Palate: Winey syrup turning spicy-dry in the arrival. The development brings out cloves and dry, woody sherry notes. A little earthy and leathery, with sherry-soaked raisins and cherries. A touch of star anise and quite a lot of astringency on the back of the tongue.
Finish: Medium-short. Dark chocolate, licorice, tannin. A smoky hint around the edges, but it's almost certainly just barrel-char from the long maturation.
This whisky, whilst certainly very mellow and well balanced, seemed oddly washed-out to me. Tasting it was like viewing a beautiful but faded tapestry that I knew would have been stunningly vibrant 300 years ago. There was nothing I actively disliked, but so much seemed to be lacking. Rather than majestic and mature it was just old and tired.
This costs $225-285 in Australia and for that money I'd rather buy three bottles of the very good GlenDronach 12 year old, or a bottle of the 18 year old Allardice (which currently contains barrels that are way more than 18 years old) and have change left for a good pub lunch and a pint.
"Good" : 84/100 (3.75 stars)
250.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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They have the year of bottling on the bottle as well. It's on the back just below the label. Very faint. i checked the 18 year Allardice - 2015 so that's at least 19 or 20 years then and old direct fire method :-). Ironically if you see merchants with really cheaper prices it's an indication of older stock - so better quality and cheaper. I took a punt last week on that theory and it paid off. The bottle I bought was 15 a year earlier than the bottle I bought back in late 16 / early 17 which was a 16. Yeah I'm suspicious of newer Glendronach fair after a few personal experiences and personal reviews. The 21 year old should still be older stock though so whilst not worth the premium on the 18 good quality however it could be BF are now releasing sub standard crap that remains from the pre 1996 era that Bill Walker thought no good. Or just batch variation.
@PBMichiganWolverine simply check the bottle codes on GlenDronach 18yo Allardice. Bottle codes for 2017 (21-22 years old+) are LL10233, LL13570, LL33780, LL13481 and LL13780.
If it’s an older bottle it might be better - I have a suspicion that this has dropped significantly in quality recently. Looking at critics’ reviews it is generally highly rated, but the reviews are mostly a few years old now.
@cascode - wow, I’ve had a bottle of this sitting for well over a year now- waiting for a special occasion. I hate to hear that it’s a let down. Guess I’ll go ahead and open it sooner now. Great review. Cheers.
@Slainte-Mhath that’s good to know, thanks. Why bother getting Parliment , for a higher price
@cascode: Very interesting review! The 21yo GlenDronach seems to lack intrinsic quality. If you take into considerarion that the latest (2017?) batches of GlenDronach 18yo Allardice are technically 22yo (distillery closed 1996-2002), I see absolutely no reason to buy the Parliament. You get the same age+ when buying the Allardice!