Glendronach 18 Year Old Allardice Sherry Cask

This 18 Year Old GlenDronach was named after its founder, James Allardice, who preferred chasing women in London than taking care of his distillery. It matured for 18 years on oloroso sherry casks. I tasted the most recent bottling, Lot 5, from 2010.

It is very aromatic and fruity, but also very herbal and flowery. I get some red fruit, elderberries and espresso, but mostly herbs like basil and thyme, maybe even some chervil, come through. Some roasted nuts, walnuts, sweet malt and roses. Balsamico as well, but not too much. Praliné. It has an edge of struck matches, but it does not become sulphury, something I did get on the 15 Year Old Revival. Becomes better if you leave it for a while.

Pretty oily on the palate, but very sharp. I am probably kicking in an open door when I say the influence of the sherry cask is big. It reminds me somewhat of grenadine. Nutmeg and mostly ginger. Slightly bitter towards the end.

The finish is medium to long, striving but not quite achieving a balance between the berries and the oak.

A nice Speysider in general and a good GlenDronach in particular. Better than the Revival, if not much.

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