Glendronach 2002 10 Year Old Single Cask 1988
Spicy Red Chilli and Sherry?
0 186
Review by @Misty
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall86
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- Brand: GlenDronach
- Type: Scotch
- Region: Speyside
- ABV: 55.6%
Glendronach 10 yo 2002/2013 (55.6%, OB, batch 8, Pedro Ximenez puncheon, cask #1988, 664 bottles).
This is unusual. Where to begin.... Let’s start with the nose. Spicy, white pepper, sherry (no way, really), chocolate, dates and raisins. Yep, I’m liking this one a lot already.
Palate. Bam, instantly red hot chilies (you want be think along the lines of outrageous heat similar to nagga bhut jolokia) quickly followed by a roasted red pepper that then goes crazy and starts a dried fruit development. But suddenly the dried fruit is drowning in sherry and maple syrup. Sticky raisins soaked overnight in Pedro Ximenz. However, before it gets to crazy thick and cloying a chocolatecoffee note appears, with a wisp of smoke to finish things off. I like that gentle smokechocolatecoffee thing. Num num.
Finish. This is what lets it down for me. It’s of medium length and starts great with a smooth dateraisin thing going on. But oh no! Not the dreaded chalkymineral side of the house. It gabs hold and won’t let go. Slams your palate down with a; ‘Yea and you thought I was a soft old sherry boy’. It kinda ruins the finish for me and it end up being quite pronounced. However, I do appreciated some people may enjoy this?
Note: This chalky finish is reducing as the whisky oxides. My thanks to Victor for his many reviews describing the effects of this.
Note: A few bottles of this are still available.
Find where to buy GlenDronach whisky
@Misty, thank you for a nice detailed review, and thanks for the kind words in reference to my reviews.
When I joined Connosr 3 years ago, I was pretty surprised that no one was commenting on the air effects on whisk(e)y. On a bourbon site previously I had noticed that many of the reviews would mention how long the reviewer believed was the optimum time after a specific whiskey's bottle was opened before the whiskey was in its best drinking condition. After a couple of years of serious observation of various whiskies it became clear to me that all whiskies change significantly over time once they are exposed to the oxygen in air. The rate of the changes and the specific changes encountered are quite variable from whisk(e)y to whisk(e)y, though. Those changes in whiskey with air exposure are a study in themselves, and lend an additional dimension to the already rather complex and challenging task of attempting to describe in words unique internal personal sensations and the often poetic feelings and associations which those sensations evoke.