Glendronach Cask Strength (Batch 1)

A distillery release of Glendronach, at 54.8%, 12000 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 ferments in Oregon pine washbacks over long fermentations for a full, fruity spirit. It was the last distillery in Scotland to fire its stills with coal, converting to steam only in 2005.

It was distilled in copper pot stills, for a weighty make built to take active Spanish oak. A marriage of Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks held it, deep and dark in the rich make. Without an age statement, a dark sugar and dried fruit point to good years in cask. Active first fill sherry wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. 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.

At its natural 54.8% it is rich and chewy. Baked apple, honey and a dark chocolate, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. The finish is long, rich and spiced. This is the sherry led malt of Forgue.