Soba45
GlenDronach Revival 15 Year (2018 Re-Release)
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
May 9, 2020 (edited June 16, 2022)
I was thinking 1000, what to taste? A closed distillery? An older aged statement of an open one? Something obscure? There are still a few of those tucked away but then I thought conceptually wise what really makes them special?
You see those shows where top chefs are driven to experiment further, wider more wildly more creatively and then one day for whatever reason, often disillusionment or burn out or feeling like they want to get off the treadmill, they step away go back to where it all started, often literally by walking around their garden and try to remember what made it special for them in the beginning, often stripping everything back to the basics.
I'm definitely not a top chef (my cooking is barely edible) and i'm not a top anything but the concept resonated with me. Where did it all begin, what were the moments at the beginning where my mind was expanded in a big way, my eyes opened. There were a few but whisky wise 6ish so years ago when i started my journey it would have been one of the Glendronach's, my memory is a bit crap so whilst positive it was one of the earliest was it the first...not sure but it was an eye opener even after a year open. Glendronach 15 the Original...man that was a special dram..and selling for around $60USD at the time..... those were the days..
Now I ran a tasting which included this a Glendronach 12 year Sauternes and a Glendronach 14 year Virgin Oak...yeah a long time ago it was. It blew a few people's minds who like me were also getting into whisky. One of them ran out and bought ever single last bottle of the 15 year he could find (literally)..which at the time was a single retailer in our city Wellington. After that it was gone....I searched later...none left in the whole country (there is one now selling for $350USD!)...Now several weeks ago after extensive horse trading I managed to get one of those bottles from him (he got an 18 yr plus loads of other goodies). The top was rusted (no idea where he was storing it) but it was mine...along with the one last bottle of the 14 year virgin oak I saved.
Now in addition I got hold of the new Glendronach 15 Revival Version 2. So you see where this is going.. yes ladies and gentlemen..a head to head old verses new...at the danger of degrading my old memories is it still awesome? Is the new version a pale imitation or a faithful recreation?
Now it dawned on me that there may not be any scenario which results in a happy ending out of this experience. Either the new isn't as good as the old or it is but then I get burnt at the stake as a heretic as people swear it isn't or it is initially but with time open the old bottle gets better and the new fades away. Or even the old isn't as good as I remember so I've tarnished my memories. Or maybe I let bias creep in and I get someone else to pour them and I taste blind. Arggghhhh the overcomplication of it all...
I then thought back to the concept...keeping stuff simple..taste both, enjoy one or the other or both (or not as the case maybe) and make a call based on what I know about what I have at the moment I tasted it.
And so I did....now as you may have spotted there was no rating. I couldn't give the ending away now could I :-).
I gave both time and then took a sniff. Straight away you could tell the difference..pure caramelized toffee deep rich on the old whiskey; you could deeply inhale and drown your nasal cavities in its depth. The newer edition you could tell had the red berried fruitier px influence. You could tell it's relevative youth but still lovely. I generally am an Oloroso man through and through so I did have prejudices going into this but I liked both on the nose but the old variant definitely captured my heart. My memory is often faulty but the thing I remembered about the old held true..that smell..it took me back years.
On the palate the nose translated similarly..younger spicier and more ethanol fwd with water. The old... man that rich caramelized toffee. Slightly shorter finish then I remember but the bottle had been open all of a hour so I know what is coming over the months and years I savor this.. usually I give bottles away this I will hold onto..eeking out a dram here and there every so often over time.
I knew I shouldn't spoil the moment and compare but I busted out a sample of the old 18 as well. As great as ever but oddly despite also being pure oloroso a lot spicier than the old 15 yr.
So what do I prefer. Sadly the old 15 year is just an amazing dram better even than the old stock 18. The new 15 whilst showing it's youth is also a great dram I'd be saying 4.25 to 4.5 easily and makes me question the old 18...the old 15 however ah man why oh dear god why did I not stock up.
I'd like to thank everyone i've interacted with on my journey on this site. The notes I've enjoyed reading, the comments and banter I've had and despite the tens of thousands of kilometers distance between some of us the 'aromatherapy samples' we have managed to sneak past customs :-).
mo bhuíochas is doimhne
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@Whiskey_Hound Cheers and likewise! :-) Been reading your reviews and generally interacting! Yes good to see they haven't defiled a classic dram and they can still pump out a great dram at a decent price..I was starting to lose faith!
@Soba45 congrats on 1000. I always love reading your reviews, whether they’re short blurbs or miniature novels like this one. Thank you for your contributions. P.S. I’ll vouch for the 15 Revival being fantastic stuff. In the case you’re branded a heretic, I’ve got your back!
@LeeEvolved Yes they are often the best reviews as they are unique to you. People with better palates than mine can describe a whiskey waaaay better than I can so I think for me trying to add much in that area is often token, repetitive and not adding additional value. Doing additional interesting research on the distillery or dram itself or random stuff associated with the whiskey or a general back story that ties in or your overall experience is I personally find more interesting to read. Hopefully your palate comes back and you aren't relegated to drinking blends for the rest of your (hopefully long, healthy and prosperous!) life :-)
When I started struggling to even enjoy whisky I even had trouble coming up with other things to say because I wasn’t detecting things I had in the past: vanilla, wood, sherry, apples and peat smoke seemed to appear in almost every sample. I sometimes had to resort to how the whisky made me feel or worked in the setting instead of trying to force more flavor notes on the page. Sometimes I hope that made for an enjoyable read, at least haha. That said, after Covid-19, I’ve only tried 2-3 samples and I chose the cheaper bottles/blends because I knew I’d struggle to taste and decipher. I just want to get back to sipping and enjoying whisky to relax (and contemplate my recent brush with death).
@Slainte-Mhath Yes although there are downsides to doing so as it can subtlety influence opinion I quite like reading other reviews for inspiration in terms of taste descriptors. I'm quite poor in translating what I taste to the actual words of what it is. Some reviewers have such a wide expressive vocabulary it's almost as much satisfaction for me the realization of the flavours i'm tasting. And yes often/usually my recorded tastes are very short just for keeping track personally of if i like it as partially due to volume of tastes and partially due to just generally wanting to focus on enjoying the dram these days I can't be bothered. Certain drams definitely are unique enough (either good or just different) that I enjoy researching taste descriptors and taking them apart as there is still enjoyment in that for me. Or if generally the distillery has an interesting back story. But by in large once I'm through my remaining 40ish samples it'll be just drinking and enjoying bottles I've already reviewed and a lot less 'tasting'. Easing into my retirement phase..haha
@Slainte-Mhath It's a challenge, isn't it. I catch myself using the same pattern of phrases all the time. You have to really concentrate on the dram and *feel* what it is telling you.
@Soba45 I have noticed myself, the more reviews I am writing, the more difficult it becomes to not always use the same phrases... I usually check my last reviews to make sure there is variation. Back in 2016, I started by reviewing 2 malts per week, but now I am more comfortable to write 2-3 reviews per month. I crossed the 500 whiskies line some months ago, but reviewed only about one third. Sometimes, I just want to enjoy a dram without over-analyzing it.
@cascode Crazy..thats what you get when demand severely outstrips supply I guess! Yeah it's great but not worth that. The new 15 was up near there in experience and a fraction the price of what the old is going for these days.
@LeeEvolved Great to have you back mate, have missed your reviews and general interactions. :-) Awesome you overcame covid and hopefully you'll be celebrating in style! Yes it did seem like a marathon where towards the end I thought I'd better sprint to the finish line before I collapsed as like you I felt I was hitting the proverbial wall! I'll be spreading my few remaining samples out more slowly as no more mass MoM or TWE orders for me. Thanks once again for the batch load of samples you sent over, one of my top sampling sessions!
Wow, it doesn’t seem like it was that long ago where we were both hovering around 400-500 reviews simultaneously and then I hit the proverbial wall and here you are sailing right on to 1k. Congrats! They have all been great reviews and fun reads. Cheers to the milestone and I hope you enjoy slowing down a bit and enjoying your Distiller fame (while giving that liver a much needed rest, haha). Well done, my friend.
@dhsilv2 Cheers, enjoyed reading all your reviews since you joined and interacting :-). Yes I'm crossing my fingers the new 15 stays the same as what I tasted as I'd like to grab a bottle sometime this year and round out the Glendronach family! Decent price here too at under $80USD
@Soba45 I checked a local site that agglomerates whisky availability and prices in Oz today and there was a bottle of the pre-2018 15 yo available - for $450. An hour later it was gone. The shop that had it re-sells collections so I guess it was a one-off. Certainly was a great expressiosn, but as Slainte-Mhath mentioned although it was superior to the current batches, they are still very fine malts. It seemed to me more of a change of profile than a drop in quality per se, and the price is pretty fair.
Congrats on 1k amazing. I've never had the old 15 (which peaked as a 21 year old) but this new 15 is just outstanding.
@Slainte-Mhath I will try that out however i'm also very keen to savor every drop of the old as is given each dram brings me closer to the last time i try it! It's good to see the new is also a decent albeit different dram..a lot better than some of the other recent offerings
@Soba45 Maybe you should have blended old and new 1:1, and just enjoyed it? I have tasted both versions as well, and while I see the old version at 4.5 stars (91 pts), the new version which I didn't bother to review would have been 4 stars (around 87 pts). Slainte!
@Slainte-Mhath Cheers and cheers! Been great conversing with you and good to hear you are on the mend :-)
@Soba45 Great review, and congrats on the 1000!
@RLDN106 Cheers mate :-)
Congrats on 1000! You’re a shining example of why this community was established.
Awesome milestone and another great review! Whisky discovery is a process, an adventure, a journey, and an evolution. And it's best done with like-minded enthusiasts and friends!
Congrats on a great accomplishment and a great scotch to mark It......Love that reviewers here are from all over the world even the kiwis
@Rick_M Cheers mate. Yes the good work will be slowing down considerably and I'll be living mostly vicariously through others!
@jdriip Cheers mate!
@Scott_E Cheers mate and likewise and awesome you are in for a real treat!
@Jan-Kaselitz Cheers mate. Likewise in the short time we've interacted I've enjoyed your reviews :-)
@cascode Yes bought me right back to where it all started :-). Haha definitely not another 1000..i think it's going to take me a year or two to get to 100.. I'll let someone else take up the challenge of hitting the next millennium!
@1901 Cheers mate. thank goodness for google translate..haha
@WhiskeyLonghorn Cheers mate been great conversing with ya!
@sobs45 - man, it’s about time. The suspense was killing me. 🙂Congrats on 1,000 great reviews, even though you hand out high grades like you’ve passing out manhole covers. I’m sure there’s a 5 in there somewhere, but the hell with trying to find it. You’d need a supercomputer to sort through that pile. I’m looking forward to you keeping up the good work as soon as you exit rehab. Cheers!
@Soba45 great commentary, congrats on #1000.
@Soba45 Great read. Love the anticipation. 1000, can't believe it. Your posts are always informative, relatable and entertaining. I have a bottle of this, yet to be opened. But pleased to know it will be a good pour. Stay well.
@Soba45 congratulations on the achievement. It is always fun to read your vibrant reviews and I (although only a year in the whisky world) agree on many if not most of your ‘tastes’. Looking forward to seeing you as an active contributor to this small but exquisite community, which I really enjoy. I know there is a lot to learn here for people like me. In your honor I am pouring me another of my well saved drams of an Arran 21. Slainte.
@Soba45 Great review and an excellent choice for the occasion - it ticks all the boxes. Isn't is amazing how intensely an aroma can transport you back into the past. I know you're planning to slow down in future, but I hope you can remain as active as ever on Distiller. He mahi pai! Kei te hiahia au kia panui i tetahi atu 1000 arotake.
@Soba45 Comhghairdeas as do 1000ú blaiseadh. Bainim an-taitneamh as do chuid tuairimí a léamh.
@Soba45 great read , appropriate for the milestone. Can’t beat such a classic for the occasion.
What a lovely sentiment and congrats on reaching a milestone few achieve! I too missed the boat on the old 15 year. Glad you got to try it. Cheers and stay healthy friend!