Glendronach Cask Strength (Batch 2)

A distillery release of Glendronach, at 55.2%, 16500 bottles in all. Glendronach is a Highland single malt whose founder was an early champion of sherry cask maturation. It was founded in 1826 by James Allardice, said to be the second man in Scotland to take a licence after the Excise Act of 1823. It was bought in 2008 by Billy Walker's BenRiach company, who rebuilt it as a heavily sherried single malt.

The spirit was distilled to a rich, generous cut, for a weighty make built to take active Spanish oak. Maturation ran across Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks, layered over the Glendronach spirit. With no age statement, vanillin reads as vanilla and oak lactones as coconut over the rich, fruity spirit. 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.

At a natural 55.2% it is full and rich. A rich, sherried sweetness, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. Beneath it run dried fruit, dark sugar and a warm spice. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is Glendronach's deep, fruity Highland style.