James Allardice founded the distillery along with a consortium and renamed it Glendronach in 1826.. The original house that sat on the site was named Boynsmill and was renamed when the distillery was founded.
In 1837 part of the distillery was ravaged by fire and a re build was in order, by the 1860’s Glendronach was the largest duty paying distillery located in the highlands.
In those days many if not all the workers would live on site and in the 1860’s there were well over 50 people resident on the site, this included the workers and families..
In 1920 the distillery once again changes hands and Captain Charles Grant ( the son of William Grant who founded Glenfiddich) takes control for the next 40 years before handing over control to William Teacher & Sons who soon increase the production with the addition of 2 more stills..
The distillery changes hands once more before being mothballed in 1996 and remains closed until production re starts on May 14th 2002..
In 2008 the distillery falls into the hands of the Benriach Distillery Company who help to shape the distillery into what we know and love today..
Brown Forman take control of Glendronach, BenRiach and Glenglassaugh In 2016..
Batch 9 – Glendronach Cask Strength
Distillery.. Glendronach
Region.. Highlands
Age.. Nas
Abv.. 59.4%
Casks.. PX and Oloroso
Nose.. Succulent sweet aromas rise and seduce immediately.. Dates, figs and plums in a sweet syrup slowly disperse into dark chocolate, Waffles smothered in maple syrup, dark treacle and a rich heather honey all seem to be present too.. Brandy snaps, cream donuts and a mug of black coffee with a slowly burning cigar perched aside really do make this extremely inviting.
Palate.. Citrus bitterness with an instant sweetness interacting for dominance.. Those chocolate flavours mingle perfectly with dates, plums and blackcurrant jam. Orange marmalade, bakewell tart and warm cinnamon buns blend into rich toffee and roasted chestnuts. There is also an interesting mustiness to this that just makes you think you are sipping within one of those warehouses..
Finish.. Spices and oak tannins
Thoughts.. BOOM….. Straight away this 9th batch of Glendronach’s Cask strength series impresses with a big onslaught of sweetness and seductive aromas that just wont allow you to put the glass down until its totally got you under its powers..
Those rich aromas from what i imagine are the PX casks are just so delicious and mind blowing that i could sit here all night just sniffing this whisky, its like an addiction that cant be satisfied, something that just seems so right that it couldn’t possibly be wrong..
For me this whisky is worth the price point for the nose alone, although let me just say the palate aint bad either, but the aromas, the aromas o the aromas……
With thanks to the Glendronach for this sample..
ocdwhisky.com 