LouisianaLonghorn
GlenDronach Allardice 18 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
July 22, 2020 (edited December 1, 2020)
Not a sample per-se, but I am near the end of the bottle and I never did a "proper" review of this (some of you may recall my Christmas soliloquy from last year).
This is the rare bottle that remains constant from start to finish, and only gets better with air. These older sherry monsters really oxidize well, and only reach their peak after they've been open 5-6 months. This one certainly did.
I have one of the older 2017 bottlings, which means this is 22-23 years old. It's certainly different than younger sherry monsters. In place of bright red fruits and raisins, there's old, old oak, leather, prunes, and a VERY dry aftertaste. The dryness is almost too much at times unless you let it sit on your tongue for a very long time. Many of you have written about how difficult it is to describe that "old" whisky flavor, and I'm finding myself coming up short as well. This is something to be experienced.
So how does it compare to the 21 Parliament? There's about a $70-100 price difference for starters, and you're getting comparably aged juice. If you have to money, my taste prefers the 21. I like PX, which is missing from the 18. I think the Glendronach house style is best with a blend of PX and Oloroso (none of this Port nonsense we've seen lately...). The Oloroso only aging comes off a bit too dry for me, but hey, that's just one snob's opinion. Still an amazing dram, and the .25 off is only for that overly dry finish. Cheers!
160.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@Slainte-Mhath We had that here earlier in the year. It's popped back up at a higher price now
@Slainte-Mhath such a thankless job indeed. Not her fault she didn’t walk into that stock that BW did. I’ve seen her on some Facebook Live tastings, and she speaks very intelligently and passionately about her work and the whisky. I wonder if she’s getting pressure from Brown-Foreman to “innovate” and keep putting out new products to build the brand.
This bottle has disappeared from the Norwegian market entirely. Although I never heard that it's discontinued, I think they are just waiting for the 2002 distillate to be ready. I can already see people ranting how inferior the 'new' Allardice will be. Poor Rachel Barrie, not an easy job!
@jonwilkinson7309 that was my only Compass Box bottle that didn’t age well. Spice tree by comparison took time and air quite nicely.
best whisky ever
@WhiskeyLonghorn. Another great tip! I guess I'll keep the Spaniard at the top of the rotation! It's fascinating to me how bottles can evolve.
@jonwilkinson7309 oh, and I had the opposite problem with my last bottle of The Spaniard. Started off really nice. Creamy, good notes of raisins and fruit. Was my gateway to the sherry side of scotch. Bit it developed an unpleasant astringent note over time that made it hard to finish the bottle.
@jonwilkinson7309 only the older ones in the 15+ year category. The younger ones like GD 12 I find are delicious and consistent from start to finish (after extensive field research!) but the older ones are just so tightly wound after all those years in European oak sherry casks that time and air reward the patient drinker.
Great review and great advice on giving the bottle 5-6 months. Do you find that to be true for sherry bombs regardless of age? The only sherry monster I have open is the Spaniard, which I really enjoyed right out of the gate. But I'd happily let it sit for a while.
@ContemplativeFox cheers friend! It’s a fine bottle indeed.
My mouth is watering just from reading this review! Also, I appreciate the detail you go into about the effect of the Oloroso.