Glendronach 40 Years Old 1972 Cask #713 (LMDW)

This Glendronach was bottled by La Maison du Whisky, a 40 year old, distilled in 1972, from cask 713, at 50.2%, bottled for a whisky festival. Glendronach is a Highland single malt, founded in 1826 near Huntly in Aberdeenshire. It was mothballed in 1996 and lay silent until production resumed in 2002. By 1862 it had grown into the largest duty paying distillery in the Highlands.

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. 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 its natural 50.2% it is rich and chewy. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The body is full and rich, the fruit deep and dark. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a rich Highland malt of dried fruit and chocolate.