Yes, this is a two-for-one deal. A young single cask Glendronach from the latest batch, and an old single cask Glendronach from two batches prior. Two ends of the Glendronach spectrum. You're welcome!
"Sherry bomb". It's an interesting term! Some interpret a 'sherry bomb' to simply mean a whisky that is matured in a first-fill sherry cask, while others take it to mean a whisky that has been dominated or even overwhelmed by sherry casks. Either interpretation can then be a positive or a negative, depending on the drinker's tastes. But the term has also come to mean high-strength, sherry-forward whiskies where the spirit and distillery character has been dampened or completely overwhelmed by active sherry casks. Some distilleries and independent bottlers manage these casks very well and still produce a relatively balanced & characterful whisky, while others let the casks run wild and cash in on the dark colour that usually results. In the past, many whiskies of this style had spent some time in sherry casks that had been treated with paxarette - a mix of grape must and sweet fortified wines that was used to rejuvenate / re-season sherry casks, in some cases by being blasted / injected into tired or under-performing casks using compressed air. The use of paxarette was banned by the Scotch Whisky Association in 1990, but that only applies to Scotland remember - it's use is allowed and is certainly practised in many of the "new world" whisky-producing countries around the world. These days, the closest we get to that sort of effect is the modern "sherry seasoned" cask, where casks are tailor-made for the whisky industry, rather than being used for traditional sherry maturation, and they're generally made from new / virgin oak and only hold wine for anywhere from 3-24 months. In many cases the wine is low quality enough to only become cooking sherry or vinegar, or is even dumped and disposed of. Often made from new (virgin) oak, many of these sherry seasoned casks are also filled "wet", where the freshly emptied casks are quickly filled with new make spirit, rather than being re-charred or toasted beforehand. As you might expect, that results in a high level of influence from the wine itself as it leeches out of the oak and into the spirit. This is also far more prevalent with smaller cask sizes thanks to the increased surface area that is in contact with the spirit - yes, I'm looking at you, Australia!
Distilleries like Glenfarclas, Aberlour, Macallan, and Glengoyne are known for their sherry cask whiskies, although the quality of those whiskies varies massively between expressions. But there is one distillery that, in my opinion, consistently produces enjoyable sherry cask whiskies that retain their character and some semblance of spirit & distillery character - Glendronach. From the core range 12-, 15-, and particularly the 18- and 21-year old bottlings to the non-age statement Cask Strength batches, while the level of sherry influence and overall quality still varies by batch, the general level of quality is consistently good between these bottlings, and has been for quite some time. But there's a next level of Glendronach appreciation: their single cask program. Unfortunately the prices have increased drastically in the most recent batches, particularly with the older bottlings, while on the other hand the younger bottlings in each batch of releases have remained relatively stable, or have even decreased in price. These younger single cask releases tend to be quite a different experience to the older bottlings, for a number of reasons. While the main difference is obviously going to be the level of sherry cask influence and the maturation, there are also some fundamental differences in the spirit itself. Glendronach Distillery was mothballed in 1996, and didn't re-open again until 2002. Much has been written about their tumultuous history and subsequent rescue by Billy Walker & Co. in 2008, and the pressure that the closure put on their maturing stocks, but two things happened before that rescue that fundamentally changed Glendronach. Firstly, prior to 1996 a small portion of their barley requirements were floor-malted at the distillery, which also included a small amount of peat being added to the kiln during the drying process. And secondly, prior to 2005 the distillery's four pot stills were all direct-fired using coal (not gas), meaning they were heated by flame from underneath. In 2005 they were converted to the common method of indirect-heating using steam. So in reference to the single cask bottlings, anything distilled in 1995 or earlier includes some floor-malted barley, and anything distilled in 2004 or earlier came through the direct-fired stills. So these two single cask bottlings, one from 1993 and one from 2008, are from opposite ends of the changes to, and closure of, the distillery.
Whisky number one is from Batch 18 (2020) of the single cask releases, distilled in 2008 and was fully-matured in a PX sherry puncheon (600-litre cask), cask #8558, for 12 years prior to bottling at a cask strength of 59.4%. And it is not a cask-heavy "sherry bomb". Instead it's a sweet, fruity whisky that has a great balance between cask influence and spirit / distillery character. Whisky number two is from Batch 16 (2018) of the single cask releases, distilled in 1993 and fully-matured in an unspecified sherry butt (500-litre cask), cask #55, for 24 years prior to bottling at a cask strength of 56.7%. But it also is not a cask-heavy "sherry bomb"! It's also a sweet, fruity whisky that has a great balance between cask influence and distillery character. But there are obviously distinct differences here. Cask #55 distilled in 1993 is the sort of whisky that made Glendronach famous, while cask #8558 distilled in 2008 is from the "new breed", distilled in the Billy Walker era on indirectly-steam-heated stills and matured in a modern sherry-seasoned cask - and a substantially larger cask to boot. Neither of these bottlings are chill filtered or artificially coloured, and I'm not going to weigh-in on the recent news that Glendronach is removing the "non-chill filtered" statement from the packaging on their core range whiskies. Glendronach should certainly be weighing-in on the issue though, rather than just ignoring it until it goes away - that's not the best strategy when it comes to us whisky geeks! On to pricing, then. The 2008 12-year old, bottled in 2020, sold for the relative bargain price (for a single cask, cask strength sherry cask Glendronach) of $220-240 AUD when it was released in Australia earlier this year. The 1993 24-year old, bottled in 2018, sold for $550-580 AUD when it was released in 2019, which is an expensive whisky of course, but not unreasonable for the age. Unfortunately the pre-closure casks in Batch 18 have incurred a substantial price increase, but this bottling pre-dates that so we can ignore that for this review. It's tasting time!
Distilled 2008, matured in a single PX sherry puncheon, bottled 2020. Batch 18 of the single cask releases. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 710 bottles.
Colour: Amber.
Nose: Sweet date syrup with walnuts, almonds and furniture polish. Light floral sweetness too, I'd say vanilla icing sugar. Oranges - both sweet & bitter, touch of ginger, plus fresh plum and nectarine in syrup. Touch of spicy fresh oak shavings and green chilli pepper - with most of the seeds removed.
Texture: Medium weight. Rich & syrupy, wood-forward & sweet. A touch of heat but that's to be expected at nearly 60% ABV and 12-years of age.
Taste: More plum & nectarine in syrup, followed by orange again. Dates & black pepper building before spicy fresh oak and a touch of new leather. Brown sugar in the background.
Finish: Medium length. Melted butter makes an appearance, then the spicy fresh oak and black pepper. Walnuts and almonds again, touch of that green chilli pepper before the orange & leather poke back through.
Score: 3.5 out of 5.
Notes: Tasty, sweet, flavoursome whisky but with plenty of fresh wood & spice to balance that out. Yes, it's young and relatively fresh, but there's good balance between cask & spirit, and at times it shows an interesting "green-ness" that is almost refreshing! This bottling is more in-line with the NAS Cask Strength Glendronachs in that way, where there's distillery & spirit character on show along with plenty of sherry influence, rather than being entirely cask-led "sherry bombs". And there's a time & place for both!
Distilled 1993, matured in an unspecified sherry butt, bottled 2018. Batch 16 of the single cask releases. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 567 bottles.
Colour: Very dark bronze with tinges of red.
Nose: Richer, sweeter, deeper and more condensed. Orange zest and furniture polish, cola syrup and dark chocolate. Lovely dry sherry (nutty, spicy, almost meaty) with a little good quality balsamic vinegar. Dark tea leaves and blackberry jam.
Texture: Medium weight, richer & deeper as expected, and no heat whatsoever.
Taste: Rich, more tea leaves, cola syrup and blackberry jam. Hint of sour cherry and raisin in the background. Dark chocolate and a touch of leather. Furniture polish and a couple of black jellybeans thrown in for good measure.
Finish: Long length. Balsamic vinegar again, with more cola syrup and blackberry jam. Sour cherry and raisin showing themselves again too. Touch of coffee grounds and drying tannins to round things out.
Score: 4 out of 5.
Notes: Delicious. Much softer, more integrated and more developed of course, and the depth of flavour is there without it being completely overwhelmed by the sherry cask as some younger examples from other distilleries - and different countries - often are. This whisky is precisely why these Glendronach single casks earned the reputation that they now enjoy, and with the "master vintage" and "Grandeur" bottlings and all the rest, there can't be much stock from this era left lying around.
Overall notes: Which brings me to my next point. Yes, the latest batch has seen a massive jump in price on the older releases. But we whisky geeks, a.k.a. "the market", only have ourselves to blame. The secondary prices on these older single cask releases have exploded over the last few years, and with the older stock dwindling and the entire whisky industry enjoying a huge boom in sales over the last year or so, it was only a matter of time until the distillery owners asked for their fair share rather than just sit back and watch the private & licensed resellers reap the rewards. A few years ago these older single cask Glendronachs were great value for money - I won't say they were cheap, but they were fairly priced and offered great value for money. But they're now beyond the budgets of a good chunk of their previous audience. They now attract a different type of buyer, and that situation won't change as the stock levels get lower & lower with each year that rolls by. The older casks in this latest batch certainly seem to be hanging around for much longer than they ever used to, which is telling at the moment when almost nothing sits on the shelves for very long. Time will tell!
So where does the Glendronach lover turn, when these older single casks are now beyond the limits of their justifiable spending? They turn to the distillery's core range, the 18-year old Allardice, and the NAS Cask Strength bottlings (except batch 7). Or they turn to the younger single cask releases. The 2008 12-year old that I've reviewed above still offers great value for money, and comparing it to a 24-year old from a different time in the distillery's past was never going to be worthwhile when it came time to discuss pricing or value. These younger single casks are going to be the way forward if you ask me, thanks to that pesky distillery closure where the large gap in stock is going to mean an even larger gap in pricing. Some of the younger releases have been excellent in the past, and I'm sure they will be in the future.
Cheers!
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