Glendronach 31 Years Old 1978

A 31 year old Glendronach, a distillery bottling, from 1978, cask 1040, at 51.2%, 645 bottles in all. Glendronach is a Highland single malt known for its heavy Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry maturation. It was bought in 1920 by Charles Grant, a son of the founder of Glenfiddich. The distillery was an early champion of sherry cask maturation, its malt charming Edinburgh society from the start.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still, giving a deep, full bodied Highland spirit. Maturation came in an Oloroso sherry puncheon, layered over the full Glendronach make. In its ethereal years the malt turns waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a whisper of sotolon over dark fruit. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Highland body. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit.

At its natural 51.2% it is rich and chewy. A deep, dark sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. The close is rich and dark, fruit over a warm spice. This is a deep, sherried Highland single malt.