Glendronach 28 Years Old Cask #Batch 11

This official Glendronach, a 28 year old, cask Batch 11, at 48.9%, 3181 bottles in all. Glendronach is a Highland single malt, revived from 2008 by Billy Walker's BenRiach company. By 1862 it had grown into the largest duty paying distillery in the Highlands. It passed to Brown Forman, owner of Jack Daniel's, in 2016 as part of a 285 million pound deal.

It was taken gently through wash and spirit stills, for a weighty make built to take active Spanish oak. An Oloroso cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. At this evaporative stage ellagitannins lend structure while oxidation builds a richer raisin and treacle. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Highland body. The casks are picked closely, the wood matched to the rich Glendronach make. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Active first fill sherry wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt.

At a hearty 48.9% it carries real weight. Raisin, chocolate and a warm spice, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is the sherry led malt of Forgue.