¡Oh Glendronach, that lovely distillery that is undoubtedly the best in the planet! When you get the words "Glendronach" "Batch" Strength" together, you know you are about to have a beautiful time. I was visiting the premises back in may, and of course i signed myself and a group for a wonderful tasting event. The first whisky they gave us was the Batch 10 expression from The Glendronach's annually cask strength releases. Bottled at 58.6%abv, this sherry bomb has a very dark reddish color. On the nose, it is a glass of a powerful Oloroso sherry. Shortbread; peppery on the nose and dehydrated oranges. A full nutty aroma with some granola notes. On the palate, it was wonderful. Red fruits; kid's cereal (trix is for kids) mixed with blackberries and red berries. Winey, nutty, full of raisins. I love that kind of stuff. Aftertaste was a little bit dissapointing. Overly oaky, too much sawdust and an overall woody finish that i hate to use to describe a whisky. In conclusion, this is a very good whisky, but it is far from been the best Glendronach, it doesn't even get to be the best batch strength. I recently had the batch 11, and that one got a perfect score in my books, this one has an underwhelming aftertaste that suffered most of the point deductions. My score for it is a honest 89 over 100. Try the batch 11 instead.
About this bottle
Crafted by GlenDronach's Master Blender Rachel Barrie, the 10th cask strength batch is a marriage of single malts which aged in oloroso and Pedro Ximenez casks. It's bottled without chill-filtration at 58.6% ABV and is available in the US as of June 2022.
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 10 parsed reviews.
(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 23 April 2022). Nose: Nutty, orange, mocha coffee, dry fruits Palate: Fruit cake, Christmassy, chocolate cherries, orange zest, chocolate raisins, crystallised ginger. Strongly sherried. Finish: Medium finish. Stone fruits, dates, leather, chocolate/cocoa, coffee. Sherry-sherry-sherry!!! Sours on the aftertaste. PX & Oloroso sherry casks This is a heavy, mouthcoating sherry-bomb! Lots of cocoa, chocolate and dried fruit notes. You really notice the cask strength, it has a slightly harsher feel on the palate for it. Very tasty, chewy and unctuous. Good dram. Came joint second out of the six drams, with 14% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 50% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky. There was a lot of negative talk in the chat rooms about the how the ownership of Glendronach now distribute the bottles, which could have negatively impacted the score.
For something as sherry forward as this expression is, the balance and complexity that GlenDronach achieved here is really quite special. The nose is vibrant and teases the major notes from the palate: orange, chocolate, sultanas, nutmeg, and stone fruits can all be found here. The velvety palate arrives with warmth, but not heat, and packs a punch of fruitcake, citrus and spice - a perfect whisky to enjoy at the holidays. However, the palate quickly cedes the stage to the real star of this show: the finish. Long, intense, and layered, this whisky's finish leaves you wanting to experience it again and again. The sultanas, mocha, and oak linger long after the dram is done. Cask Strength Batch 10 is a superb effort by GlenDronach and worth well more than its modest MSRP.
N: coffee, Christmas cake, rich dark chocolate, toasty P: jammy, raisins and bakery spice, a little water stretches this and delivers cherry. To say this is a rich is a little understated. F: long, warm ginger spice. More jamminess. Distiller whisky taste #12
Really nice and the sherry is definitely up front. Definitely does not drink like a cask strength. Expertly blended and full of flavor. Love everything that is going on with this one. If you like Glendronach you will not be disappointed with this one.
The nose is sweet and astringent, almost like a whiteboard marker or an antiseptic cleaner. The palate is very alcohol-forward, owing to the cask-strength ABV. Adding water brought out some caramel and vanilla notes in the nose and the palate.
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