Glendronach Cask Strength (Batch 7)

Glendronach from the distillery, at 57.9%. Glendronach is a richly sherried Highland single malt from the Valley of Forgue, built on full bodied spirit and Spanish oak. Its water is the Dronac Burn, which also gave the distillery its name. By 1862 it had grown into the largest duty paying distillery in the Highlands.

The spirit was distilled to a rich, generous cut, shaping a rich Highland body with real weight. It was matured in Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks, each wood adding to the dark, dried fruit. Carrying no age, soft vanillin and dried fruit suggest a fair spell in active oak. The casks are picked closely, the wood matched to the rich Glendronach make. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At a hearty 57.9% it carries real weight. Fig, walnut and a bittersweet chocolate, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. It is full and fruity, the spirit carrying the cask. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is Glendronach's deep, fruity Highland style.