Glendronach 11 Years Old 2008 Cask #648

A distillery release of Glendronach, an 11 year old, from 2008, cask 648, at 61%, 682 bottles in all. Glendronach is a rich Highland malt from the Valley of Forgue, near Huntly. It was bought in 2008 by Billy Walker's BenRiach company, who rebuilt it as a heavily sherried single malt. The distillery was an early champion of sherry cask maturation, its malt charming Edinburgh society from the start. It was bought in 1920 by Charles Grant, a son of the founder of Glenfiddich.

It was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. It was matured in a Pedro Ximenez sherry puncheon, the wood working deep into the malt. By the integrating teens the raw notes fade and esters build, the rich spirit growing rounder and darker. Maturation runs slow and even in the traditional dunnage warehouses on the Forgue site. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register.

At 61%, undiluted, it is dark and full. A deep, dark sweetness, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. The body is full and rich, the fruit deep and dark. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a richly sherried Highland single malt.