12 years of whisky: the case for sherry casks

Continuing this series on quality, affordable 12 yo whisky, it’s time to take a look at another modern classic. An archetype if you will for sherry cask matured whisky. Last week’s example of a bourbon cask matured whisky was a benchmark, I reckon, as the Deanston 12 I picked is not only readily available, but also affordable (roughly €45) and very decent quality. Notice the use of the description ‘modern classic’ in my intro, as today’s whisky might seem as if it’s been around for ever, but was, in its current form, actually only first released around 2008-2009. Yes, there have been official releases prior to this date, but they were mostly limited releases and would set you back several hundreds of your local dineros. Despite this being one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland, founded in 1826 and upon one point in time owned by THE sir Walter Scott, it had almost always filled the purpose of producing for blends under the ownership of Grant’s, later Teacher’s and finally Pernod Ricard, before being bought by Billy Walker. So as a single malt, it’s not exactly the new kid in town, but it’s still a young ‘brand’ compared to some other single malts which have been around for aeons.

Also, when the dust had settled after all the commotion recently, it became clear that the changes this whisky went through were perhaps not all that drastic to begin with. I am of course talking about Glendronach 12. I’ve referenced to this article before, and I’ll do it again. In hindsight, the sometimes borderline hysteric reactions (guilty as charged, by the way) might have been a bit exaggerated, as the removal of the words ‘non chill filtered’ on the packaging had more to do with owners Brown Forman complying to the SWA standards than anything else. Which doesn’t take anything away from the fact that they (BF, that is) handled things clumsily on this one. If you, as new owners, have to remove a statement of integrity like ‘non chill filtered’ because the previous owners weren’t a member of the SWA and therefore didn’t have to meet the terms of what qualifies as chill filtering by said SWA, by all means just explain it to us rather than coming up with some meaningless, bogus story about removing the statement ‘to allow for maximum flexibility’ to create ‘the finest quality whisky’ (paraphrasing here, but sure enough the bullshit-o-meter nearly exploded). If you, as a producer, want to be taken seriously, a good place to start probably involves taking your customers seriously as well. End mini rant. Breath in, breath out and… focus on the positives. Because there are plenty.

Glendronach 12 yo ‘Original’ (2019 release), 43% ABV, natural colour and still carrying the words ‘Non Chill Filtered’, app. €43

For the record: it’s a mere coincidence that this particular bottle carries the ‘non chill filtered’ statement. It was still sitting on the shelf when I bought this earlier this year. I could have (should have) picked up a more recent release as well to put them in a blind head to head 'Just to be sure', but that may be a topic for another time.

Nose

Red fruits and Christmas cake, nuts and spices (clove and a whiff of ginger), honeyed cereals. Rich and lush yet nothing overpowering. Initially the sweeter notes from the PX casks have the upperhand on the dryer oloroso casks and, due to the mellow richness, I’m betting on the sherry casks being mostly made from American oak. If you add a drop of water, it does change significantly. Initially it becomes quite viscous – oily, but then turns increasingly dry, with (roasted) nuts, dried fruit and spices becoming much more dominant.

Palate

A dry, oloroso – like arrival driven by spices and nuts, which alter course midpalate when a soft, fruity sweetness joins in on the fun, only to go full circle as it becomes increasingly drying yet again. A lovey development. The added water brought out the nutty ad spice notes, but, weirdly, diminished the dry mouthfeel a bit.

Finish

Pretty long (which is always nice when it’s as pleasant as this). Dry, nutty-woody with some spice in the background.

Final thoughts

If you look at what may be considered ‘classic’ 12 yo sherry cask matured whiskies, there’s choices a plenty these days. Yet do they all tick the boxes in terms of availability, consistent quality and affordability? You may argue that Macallan 12 is ‘the daddy’ of the lot, but seeing how Macallan is overpricing everything by at least 50% if not more, let’s just ignore them. Completely, at that. Moving on: Aberlour 12 (shame about the minimal bottling strength), Glenfarclas 12 and Glenmorangie Lasanta (batch variation too much of an issue with both of these, probably), Glenturret 12 (brilliant whisky, but hasn’t been around long enough and doesn’t meet the price point requirement, same goes for the revamped Royal Brackla), which probably leaves only a few, the likes of Glenallachie 12 and Bunnahabhain 12, perhaps Tamdhu 12 as well, to pick up the gauntlet thrown by Glendronach 12. This is a whisky with a few tricks up its sleeve. Quite mellow and soft at first, but give it some time and just a tiny drop of water and the bold and big notes reminiscent of your classic sherry bomb awaken, and yet everything always remains civilised and well behaved. A bit of a slumbering giant with a lot of depth and character, yet always warming and welcoming – a whisky very much fit for the season. Much in the same way Deanston 12 can be considered an ambassador for available and affordable bourbon cask matured whisky, the Glendronach 12 sets the bar for sherry cask matured whisky. Pretty high, in fact. 85/100

Next week: the case for blends