Distillery Name: The Glendronach Distillery
Distillery Location: Huntly, (Highlands)
Link to Distillery Website: https://www.glendronachdistillery.com/
Tours: https://www.glendronachdistillery.com/distillery-and-tours/
Tour/Tasting/Experience: Sherry Masterclass

The Glendronach means ‘Valley of the Brambles’ in Scottish Gaelic. The distillery was founded in 1826 by grain dealer James Allardice. It was the second distillery to apply for a license and legally distill whisky after the Excise Act of 1823 (The Glenlivet was the first one, and you can read more about it here).

In 1920, Captain Charles Grant bought the distillery. Charles was the son of the founder of the Glenfiddich Distillery, and according to our guide that afternoon, the distillery did not belong officially to the William Grant & Sons portfolio.

In 1976, French beverage conglomerate Allied Domecq bought The Glendronach distillery from William Teacher and Sons and mothballed the distillery in 1996. Production started again in 2002, and three years later, Pernod Ricard acquired the distillery after a takeover of Allied Domecq. Under Pernod Ricard, The Glendronach distillery became part of the Chivas Brothers portfolio.

In 2008, Pernod Ricard sold the distillery to a group of investors, one of them was Billy Walker, who returned the distillery to its roots, a traditional sherry (Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez) cask-aged style powerhouse. The core range includes a 12-years-old, 15-years-old known as The Glendronach Revival, and an 18-years-old.

In 2016, Brown Forman bought the distillery from Billy Walker. The deal included the sale of BenRiach and Glenglassaugh distilleries as well.

A few facts about The Glendronach Distillery:

• The Glendronach has two malting floors, but after 1996 only 10% of the malt is dried on these floors, as it is expensive to do the malting on site given the scale of production needed today.
• Before 1996 the distillery used peat (.5ppm to 1ppm) for its malts, but now things have shifted toward creating the traditional fruity and sherry style backed by 60 hours of fermentation.
• The set-up: Nine washbacks, two wash stills, and two spirit stills.
• The percentage of the heart collected is about 62% to 71%. The heart section of the high wines comes out at around 78% ABV.
• About 56k casks rest in the warehouse. Cask types include ASB, Puncheon, Butts, Red Wine, Madeira, Port, Pedro Ximenez (PX), Virgin Oak, and Quarter casks.

The Glendronach Distillery offers two experiences:

The Classic is an experience where you will sample several single malts from the core range.

The Sherry Masterclass Experience:We started the tasting with a new make spirit, two sherry wines, and explored a few exclusive single malts no longer available for sale in retail stores. The first sherry wine was a Lustau, about 3.5 years old, sent from Spain in clay pots, then transferred to American Oak barrels. The flavor was thin (young), and I did not think it was good. The second sherry wine was a Pedro Ximenez (PX) that smelled like a Christmas cake and tasted very sweet.

The Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 9 ($$)

This whisky matured in ex-sherry Oloroso and PX casks for a non-disclosed number of years (NAS), then bottled at 59.4% ABV. The flavor profile is full-bodied and rich with notes of chocolate, but the alcohol feels too strong for my preference. However, water made it more manageable with emerging notes of apple and anise. Overall, not my top choice.

Score: 2.5/5⭐

The Glendronach 15-Year-Old Revival ($$)

This single malt revived the traditional sherry maturation that The Glendronach was looking to restore. This style was the most produced whisky in the 1800s. A malt bottled at 46.% ABV and matured for 15 years in Oloroso and PX casks. Non-chilled filtered and no caramel coloring added. Flavorful and rich with plenty of classic sherry notes of raisins and other dried fruits. Very good. A true classic!

Score: 3.75/5⭐

The Glendronach 2005 American Release Exclusive ($$$$)

This single malt was exclusively for the United States market. Aged for 14 years in PX casks and bottled at 58% ABV. According to our guide, this malt may be available in Louisville, KY., and it retails for about $200 with only 612 bottles on the market.
The palate is rich with sweet notes of honey, cookies, some spices, and nuts. A long finish of complex oak and spices places this version of Glendronach as one of the best I have tried.

Score: 4/5⭐

The Glendronach 1992 ($$$$)

The oldest malt in the tasting was aged in a first-fill Oloroso sherry cask for 26 years and bottled at 59.8% ABV. This exclusive malt is the most sherry intense of all whiskies, with a mouth coating flavor profile full of raisins, nuts, almonds, cinnamon, and delicate spicy notes from the oak. The alcohol level in 1992 is higher than that of the Cask Strength version, but the whisky comes down smoothly. A sign of good quality casks.

Overall, a beautiful and balanced experience between sherry and oak. One of the best single malts of my entire trip. A highly recommended single malt if you can afford it ($1,000).

Score: 4.5/5⭐

What I liked about the experience 🙂

• You will gain more knowledge about sherry than in most distilleries. The Glendronach will only use European Oak as primary wood in its sherry expressions (as opposed to American Oak) to create a nutty and full-body flavor profile.
• A beautiful distillery and grounds take you back to the 1700s. The ambiance created by surrounding buildings makes it a place to bring your significant other. Check out the collection of whiskies in the visitor center that have appeared in several Hollywood movies.
• A practical experience for connoisseurs. No need to take an hour tour through the distillery because our guide summarized the most important aspects of the production process and history of the distillery in 20 minutes, so if you want to taste quality malts without taking a tour, this experience is for you.

What I did not like about the experience 🙁

• Nothing. I will come back.

Score: 4.25/5⭐

Check more from my trip to Scotland, including many visits to other distilleries (click here).

Legend
$50 or less $
$51-$100 $$
$101-$150 $$$
$151 or more $$$$