Glendronach 24 Years Old 1993 Cask #394

Glendronach from the distillery, a 24 year old, from 1993, cask 394, at 51.7%, 659 bottles in all. Glendronach is a Highland single malt whose founder was an early champion of sherry cask maturation. Its water is the Dronac Burn, which also gave the distillery its name.

It was distilled to a rich, generous cut, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. It was fully matured in an Oloroso sherry butt, the wood deep in the rich spirit. In the oxidative, evaporative years the spirit concentrates to dried fruit, dark chocolate and a waxy, resinous depth. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Highland body. The full bodied spirit takes active wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years.

At a natural 51.7% it is full and rich. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is a deep, sherried Highland single malt.