[40.0%・12 Years Old・Bottled Circa Early 1980s・Official Bottling・General Release]
Nose:
The nose is filled with these old-style, quality Sherry cask vibes and frankly speaking, it’s simply satisfying. Chocolate mud cake and intensively sweet dates in moderation. Aged pur’eh together with some fine tannins and vanilla grain. There’s a sweet smoke as well lurking underneath to add depth.
Palate & Finish:
The palate delivers a decent dose of dates and figs, not too intense but nicely rounded with just a wee touch of citrus influence and a subtler hint of dark grapes. On the mid-palate, there are some coconuts as the European oak influence arrives.
The dram finishes off with fine tannins and a bitter chocolate note, with hints of honey and raisins seeping out..
Thoughts:
Absolutely delicious, I would argue that this should be in the short conversation of being a textbook Sherried whisky at 40%.
At the risk of sounding like a vintage whisky snob, Sherried whiskies bottled by quality houses in the early 1980s just seem to be a bit prettier and a bit more defined even for a presumably easily accessible dram like the GlenDronach 12 Years Old; the ABV limits the ceiling but if this is your everyday dram, would you know to ask for more?
And they say our generation is spoiled..
☆☆ [Highly Recommended]
-Nicholas
WhiskNick 