Merry Sherry Christmas y'all! I've got a few classic sherry bombs to review for the holiday season, and since GD 12 was my 2019 Whisky of the Year, I thought I'd take a crack at the 15 before I pop open my 18 on Christmas day. I spent all afternoon making Christmas cookies (semester is over, grades are in), so that may or may have not enhanced the experience of nosing and tasting this fabulous dram. I've heard legend of how good the 15 was before the older stock ran out. I was still a whisky neophyte in those days and wouldn't have known good scotch if it ran me over in the street. I was floored by how good this was at first nose and taste, so I can't imagine how good the older stock was (though I may get a peak into how good when I crack the 18). The nose went great with the baking. It has buttery baking spices, sweet raisins and dates, milk chocolate (like fancy Hershey's kisses), and an overall aroma that reminded me of being on Paris for my honeymoon. I must have sat and nosed this for 15 minutes before tasting it. I know the older version was only matured in Oloroso casks, but I love PX sherry, and order it from time to time on its own when the Mrs. wants to go to a fancy wine bar that doesn't serve whisky (liquor laws are dumb in Texas. Some restaurants only serve beer and wine...boo...). But I digress. The PX is a welcome addition on the nose, and I think the new blend is just fine. By the time I finally got around to tasting it, I was greeted with sticky, sweet toffee and fruity notes on the initial hit. A repeated taste brought out a candied nuttiness (think glazed pecans at the county fair) and that wonderful, characteristic Glendronach spice at the back of the palate. It was like drinking the Christmas cookies I'd just made, only those took 20 minutes to make instead of 15+ years.... The finish, my God, that finish. I could cry it was so long and sumptuous. It was the whisky finish version of coming home from a long work trip at 2 AM, peeling your shoes off, and allowing your couch to envelop you with the promise of no work the next day. The marketing gibberish on the tube describes the finish as "dark manuka honey and dark chocolate". I got the dark chocolate part for sure, but I had to do some digging into what manuka honey was. A quick prayer to Our Lady of Google yielded that manuka honey is this ultra-premium honey from New Zealand (thoughts @Soba45 ?) that celebrities pay too much money for (kinda like we do for whisky). We don't have it in Texas, but what we do have is this amazing mesquite honey from Mexico, and I totally get that on the finish. One of the longest and loveliest I've experienced thus far in my journey. If you're still reading, you're either a Glendronach fan, or your just really like my rambling. Either way, go pick this one up. I got it for $85, which for some ridiculous reason is the everyday price in TX. At that price, I'm keeping this one around for a good long time. Cheers!