Glendronach 15 Year Old Revival Sherry Cask
Move over Macallan
0 892
Review by @Jules
- Nose23
- Taste23
- Finish22
- Balance24
- Overall92
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- Brand: GlenDronach
- Type: Scotch
- Region: Speyside
- ABV: 46%
Last weekend I had the pleasure of tasting this again for the 1st time in almost two years… and oh my, I had forgotten just how much of a home run this malt is.
Plenty has been said about this whisky – the ‘Revival’ truly is the high-class sherry wonder that it is made out to be. So ridiculously smooth… it offers wave after wave of sherry goodness with toffee, chocolate orange, dates, raisin & coffee-bean nuttiness - all swirling around a subtle, spicy wood centre…
This is most certainly no one-dimensional sherry bomb. Contained herein is far more depth & character than ANYthing I’ve encountered at this price point. It is layered and complex. There are both meaty, savory notes AND sweet, fruity sherry flavours present in equal measure. Like some hâute-cuisine oriental dish based on fish-sauce, spices and caramel sweetness, this is a Scotch that satisfies each and every part of the taste and olfactory sense.
Make no mistake, getting this kind of depth and flavor requires not only very good ex-Oloroso casks - but intensive, expert cask management. I have NO idea how GlenDronach manage to supply this kind of quality without operating on a loss in today’s market.
I’d go so far as to say that this is quite simply THE best value Scotch of the last 6 years.
Consider the following: GlenDronach distillery was mothballed in early 1996, and there is no known stock from between late 1995 and 2002, when it was reopened. That means a bottle of 15yo Revival you purchased this past year is pretty much all of 20 years old, at the very least. If I got hold of a 20yo ex-Oloroso single malt cask containing this kind of quality tomorrow, slapped a sexy label on it and put a big fat ’20 YEARS OLD’ on the front then I’d be selling it for 200 bucks a pop, easy.
The GlenDronach 15yo Revival is as complex, smooth and mouth-wateringly good as the older Macallan 18’s (early 90’s vintages). The difference between these two malts here in Europe is a cool €240 / 290$ US.
You can keep your Aberlours, Macallans and Karuizawas - I'll be drinking my stash of Glen-D 15 for the foreseeable future, thanks very much!
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I respect your appreciation for this malt. I did like it when I tried a 50 cc miniature, and I recall preferring it to the 18 YO Allardice.
It's currently not available in Ontario so I think there is still a place for A'Bunadh, Mac CS where possible, glenfarclas 105...
I should say though, that my recent brush with a 17 YO 1994 Gen-D CS single cask has me quite keep to pick some up if I can find them at the right price. My own bottle, distilled the year I started medical school (2 months after me) will be opened upon my retirement.