Glendronach 12 Years Old 2009 (Hart Brothers)

Hart Brothers bottled this Glendronach, a 12 year old, distilled in 2009, at 57.5%, one of 743 bottles. Glendronach is a Highland single malt whose founder was an early champion of sherry cask maturation. By 1862 it had grown into the largest duty paying distillery in the Highlands. It was mothballed in 1996 and lay silent until production resumed in 2002.

Taken gently through wash and spirit stills, for the rich, sherried make Glendronach is known for. It was matured in an Oloroso sherry butt, 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. Active first fill sherry wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit.

At a hearty 57.5% it carries real weight. A deep, dark sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is a richly sherried Highland single malt.