Glendronach 39 Years Old 1971

This official Glendronach, a 39 year old, from 1971, cask 489, at 48.8%, 541 bottles in all. Glendronach is a Highland single malt, founded in 1826 near Huntly in Aberdeenshire. It was bought in 1920 by Charles Grant, a son of the founder of Glenfiddich.

It was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, for a weighty, full spirit the sherry casks then deepen. An Oloroso sherry butt held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. 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. 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.

Bottled at a cask strength 48.8%, it is deep and concentrated. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The mouthfeel is full and coating, the fruit dark and sweet. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is the sherry led malt of Forgue.