Glendronach

Founded in 1826 the Glendronach distillery sits in the Highland region of Scotland, founded by James Allardes this distillery, like so many others used to have all the workers living on site, including the distillery manager, staff, excise man, brewer and all of their families… Unfortunately today this again like most others is no longer the case but If you visit the distillery today many of the old houses still remain.

The most famous of them all is Glen House, built in 1771 and has been the home to many of the distillery’s managers. Rumour has it that this famous old house has a permanent resident.. The front room is reportedly haunted by a Spanish lady, who travelled over to Scotland in a sherry cask.  The heavenly being is said to be quite partial  to the odd tipple now and then, maybe this is where the Angels share actually goes !!

Glendronach 1993 Master vintage

Many lovers of Glendronach have come to appreciate the whisky being released from the Glendronach and 1993 has certainly being given a lot of praise for the excellent quality of the whisky released..

Rachel Barrie – The Master blender for The Glendronach has this to say about her latest creation..

“With a quarter of a century slowly maturing in our renowned Andalucían casks, The GlenDronach Master Vintage 1993 Aged 25 Years has developed profound layers of depth and complexity, leading to an exceedingly long, voluptuous and memorable finish.
Fans of The GlenDronach’s traditional Highland Single Malt can expect rich brandy-laced fruitcake on the nose, cocoa-dusted coffee and sultana brioche on the palate and lingering pecan toffee notes in the finish. I hope sherry cask connoisseurs around the world enjoy The GlenDronach 1993 Master Vintage, as an example of the finest sherry cask maturation.”

This 1993 Master Vintage has been created using the finest Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso Sherry casks laid down in 1993 and hand picked by Rachel in order to create this release..

1993 Master Vintage

Distillery.. Glendronach

Region.. Highland

Distilled.. 1993

Bottled.. 2019

Abv.. 48.2%

Age.. 25 years

Cask.. PX + Oloroso

Nose.. luscious dates, sultanas and figs lead you into freshly made ginger cake, cinnamon buns cooling on the side along with treacle tart and Black Forest gateau.. Add to this candied orange, chocolate and freshly brewed coffee you could be mistaken if you thought you were sitting in a fine Victorian tea room..

Palate.. Again the dried fruits and ginger are the obvious dominant factors, there is a sweetness that just engulfs the senses and then a drying dusty feel like you get when you take a deep breath in an old damp dunnage warehouse.. Coffee notes mix with chocolate, aniseed, cherries and the finest cigars..

Finish.. Deep and dark but far shorter than you want it to be..

Thoughts.. Where do you begin when you have a whisky like this in your hands..

This whisky is magnificent, mesmerising, it’s wonderful to drink and it transcends you into an alternative reality. This is everything you want a sherry matured whisky to be.. It has a multilayered complexity that keeps you exploring this whisky for hours and just when you think you have it mastered, it only goes and throws you a curve ball ..

Now let it be known, although if you have read my blog before you will already know I have a real love for Glendronach whisky and I give no apologies for doing so.. I like so many was a little worried when Brown –  Forman bought out the previous owners and feared many changes might be seen soon after the acquisition but thankfully they have allowed the distillery to just get on with what it does best.. Producing exceptional whisky mostly matured in Sherry casks with the odd experiment thrown in for good measure..

Long may this continue ……

With thanks to Glendronach for this official sample..

Now where’s the credit card.