I planned to taste this one later this week, but following Ruben’s review I was rather intrigued to taste it earlier and see if it’s really THAT bad (a 78 for a GD single cask is not something you often see on the blogosphere). So, here’s my take:
GlenDronach 1991 cask #5405 [Batch #9], £104
Nose: A really thick nose. Almost like prune and sultana extract with a bit of spices. Die hard sherry fans would appreciate it- sherry colossus. Sweet wine-y notes and some sulfur too. A tad too much wine effect here ( can’t believe I’m saying it, but that’s true).
Palate: Meaty sherry. Not as sweet as one might expect from the Nose. Prunes and dates covered with dark chocolate pepper and a hint of salt.
Finish: Pepper , chocolate and plum juice some rubber. Dry.
Bottom line:
If you’re sensitive to rubber and sulfur this is not one for you. It’s very heavy on sherry and dried fruit. Almost like prune juice. It’s enjoyable but indeed lacks something. I’ve seen better but it’s not bad. I can see why Ruben said it was not the best of casks, as it does feel too much concentrated, with the dried fruit paste, and lacks some freshness, oak spices and anything else that might balance that out. I’ve certainly had better GD single casks, but I would not go as far as rating it under 80. Looks like it’s sold out anyways on most sites, so I guess even the lesser GDs are in high demand (Or people just buying them so fast, without even having tasted them, which usually is a good strategy). I have quite a few other GDs from this batch #9 I am going to taste this week and post notes in the next few weeks, so watch this space (including a brilliant 1972 elderly cask).
I feel that being overly sherried is the only pitfall for GlenDronach. I have one that is too much like fruit syrup too. Kind of a bummer, but it doesn’t happen often, so still a pretty awesome distillery.
Now only if their NL marketing department remembered sending me samples too, like they said they would.
haha. well, you need to “remind” them