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Tuesday, April 18, 2017

GlenDronach Cask Strength, batch 6

Glen Keith led off the lineup at last week's tasting at Blind Lady Tavern. That bourbon cask whisky was followed up by the sherry cask GlenDronach Cask Strength, batch 6.

I've found this NAS CS series to be pretty reliable. The first batch was awesome. Batch 3 and 5 were both good. Batch 6 is, at the moment, the most recent round, having been released last year.

I like taking Glendronach to events as a Macallan-killer. This one proved up to the task, as it wound up being the most popular whisky at the tasting.
A sample of GlenDronach CS 6 but not THE sample.

Distillery: 
GlenDronach
Ownership: Brown-Forman (I hated typing that)
Region: Eastern Highlands (on the edge of Speyside)
Age: ???
Maturation: a mix of former Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks
Alcohol by Volume: 56.1%
Batch: 6 (2016)
Limited bottling: ??? — the first two batches had a bottle count, the following batches may not have
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No

NEAT
The nose has a nice steady sherry that lets the malt out, occasionally. Nuts and jam. Shortbread cookies (or biscuits) and baklava. Lime candy and charred meat. A respectable balance of malt and sherry in the palate. Toffee, dried cherries & currant, roasted nuts and coffee beans. Citrus notes emerge and expand with time. It's actually a little smoky. Not too sweet. The sherry reads stronger in the finish. Raspberry jam and grape juice. Very tangy, a mild heat and good length.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
The nose is much different now. Dessert notes up front, with the PX's jam and berries having vanished. Tablet, toffee, almond extract, and honey. A little bit of malt and vanilla. The palate is softer, simpler. More sweetness and pepper. Hints of sherry, smoke and citrus. More marzipan. It finishes salty, peppery and tangy. Raisins and limes. It's nice, though shorter.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Darn good stuff, again. GlenDronach Cask Strength batch 6 does the sherry cask style well, and it swims confidently too. As always, I recommend it to all Macallan fans. If you don't like heavily sherried whiskies, then you'd be best off steering clear. Otherwise, it's a great option at a competitive price in Europe right now.

Availability - Europe
Pricing - $50-$60 (w/o VAT or shipping) in UK, $65-$75 (w/o VAT or shipping) on The Continent
Rating - 88