Scotland, Speyside: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making, production and tasting notes

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Glendronach

Description of the whisky

The distillery

Glendronach distillery
Glendronach Distillery
Forgue, by Huntly
Aberdeenshire AB5 6DB
+44 1466 730 202
Owner: Pernod-Ricard
Creation date 1826

photos

An old song evokes Glendronach as: (free translation): "Current jam is good for the belly. Ginger and hazelnuts are good for the intestines. But Glendronach wine is good for stomach".
The Glendronach distillery was founded by James Allardice in 1826. The Duke of Gordon liked the whisky so much that he took James Allardice with him to London, to present him to the London's gentry. But the success went to Allardice head. He neglected his distillery until 1837, when it was destroyed by a fire. The licence and the ruins of the distillery were sold to Walter Scott, who worked at the Teaninich distillery.
The distillery closed in 1916 and was bought in 1920 by Charles Grant, one of the sons of William Grant. Glendronach remained in the Grant family until 1960 when it was sold to William Teacher & Sons by George Grant.
Teacher's has been acquired by Allied Breweries, currently under control of Allied Distillers Ltd.
The Glendronach distillery was mothballed since 1995, but production resumed in 2004.
The malt is used in the blends Ballantine and Teachers.
The Glendronach distillery is under control of Pernod-Ricard since the French Company purchased the activities of Allied Domecq in 2005.

The whisky

A propos des notes de dégustation Your own tasting notes

List of the bottles

Description of the distillery

Glendronach
whisky
O.B. 100% Sherry casks 17
Original 12 years 17 1/3
See Help 0 - 40 € 40 - 80 € 80 - 120 € 120 - 160 € 160 - 200 € 200 - 240 € 240 - 280 € > 280 €
 Glendronach:official bottlings
 

Glendronach
15 years
100% Sherry cask
Age
 15 years
Alcohol
 43°
Cask
 Sherry
Particularity
 The Malt Heritage Collection
=25 euros< 25 euros
 
 The colour is deep amber. The nose reveals grilled almonds and praline.
The palate confirms the nose and is powerful and refined at the time.
 A whisky characterized by its deep dark colour, probably due to its long stay in sherry casks. A nice whisky full of fragrances and aromas. The sporadic production of the distillery makes this whisky sometimes difficult to find.

A very pleasant smell, marked by sherry and very nice aromas of sweet citrus fruits (tangerine?) et nut. The taste is very fresh, refined, and the sweet notes dominate, while some slightly acid hints are perceptible. However, the whisky is not very complex, as the diversity of tastes is rather limited. A very warm and pleasant finish.

The nose is clearly marked by sherry, with a discrete woody flavour on the background. In the palate, a nice presence of sherry and a kind of complexity too, with some nut hints, the whole without any aggressiveness. A pleasant finish, still marked by sherry and the woody background reappears.
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Glendronach
12 years
Original
Age
 12 years
Alcohol
 40°
Cask
 Sherry, ten Bourbon
=25 euros< 25 euros
 Glendronach 12
 
The nose is exceptionally sweet. The first nosing is very discreet, but later a kind of diluted sherry smell becomes obvious. This comes from the special maturation process this bottle has had: long years in sherry casks, and bourbon as a finishing cask. The exact contrary of most of the sherry finish whiskies. The palate is discrete too, with a kind of bitter vanilla which is rather unique. A relatively short finish, with honey hints. An very interesting bottle.

A round and slightly maritime nose with discrete hints of sherry. In the palate, a great sweetness and discrete woody, vanilla and sherryish touches on a background of slightly salted malt. A peppery and slightly woody finish of average length.

The nose is pleasantly malted, with floral notes. It announces a great smoothness, without a lack of structure. A touch of hay and some ripe fruits. In the palate, the same sweetness, but a kind of watery feeling. Nice fruity notes, but nothing sensational. A rather plain whisky, even if a semblance of complexity appears with some bitter notes on the background. The finish is rather long, slightly bitter but remains quite unimpressive

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Speyside

Speyside Map

The Speyside area is situated at the North of the Cairngorm mountain and goes to the Moray firth. It is delimited by two rivers: the Findhorn at the West side and the Deveron on the East side.
The area is named after the river Spey. Most of the distilleries take their water in one of its affluents; the Fiddich, the Livet or the Avon.
About sixty distilleries from Speyside are described on this site.

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Click on the map for a list of the distilleries of the area, on the title for further information
about the Speyside area, and if you want to make an "alphabetical journey" through the area, please
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