Glendronach Traditionally Peated (48% ABV, natural colour, likely chill filtered, 2020 bottling, matured in PX, oloroso and port casks)
The story of Glendronach and its rise as a distillery that gained a loyal fanbase is in no small part due to Billy Walker. When he took over the distillery from Chivas Brothers in 2008 he did nothing less than rebuild the brand from scratch by successfully (re)launching a core range built around the 12, 15, 18 and 21 yo. Pretty much a strategy he copy-pasted when taking over Glenallachie. So far, nothing you probably didn’t know already, but when you dig a bit deepter into its past, Glendronach’s history makes for is an interesting story. Founded by a partnership of farmers led by James Allardice in 1826, it quickly became a success (rumoured to be a result of Allardices’ nose for business by involving his whisky in a partnership with the prostitutes of Edinburgh), but after a fire partly destroyed the distillery in 1837, things took a turn for the worse and within 5 years Allardice went bankrupt. Since then, ownership has changed no less than 8 times – during the first World War it even fell into Government ownership, and soon after it became part of the Grant’s whisky emporium when bought by William’s youngest son Charles. In 1960, Teacher’s gained ownership, making Glendronach the flagship malt for their namesake blend, before ending up in the Chivas Brothers portfolio until Billy Walker bought the distillery alongside BenRiach and Glenglassaugh.
For years it enjoyed a bit of an ‘if you know, you know’ reputation with the in-crowd, but it gained a wider public interest around 2016-2017 when Glendronach created a whisky that featured in the popular movie franchise ‘Kingsman’. More bizarrely, around the same time they also released a limited 26 year old whisky that bears the name of the at that time just elected Donald Trump. For whatever reason, Trump (said to be a teetotaller) agreed on releasing the thing to commemorate the opening of his brand new golf course in Aberdeenshire, near the distillery.
When in 2016 Walker agreed terms with American drinks magnate Brown Forman (Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, and also a number of tequila, gin and wodka brands) to sell Glendronach, Glenglassaugh and BenRiach, it did a little more than just raise an eyebrow left and right amongst enthusiasts, but when Rachel Barrie was announced as his successor as master blender, all seemed right in the world of those holding their Revival, Allardice or Parliament in high regard. As you probably know, that didn’t last very long…
While Billy Walker did release a rather successfully peated expression of Glendronach (simply called ‘Glendronach peated’), this ‘traditionally peated’ NAS release is one of the new expressions under the Brown Forman ownership, first launched in 2019, and, despite being bottled at 48% ABV, this particular release from late 2020 too has lost that ‘Non Chill Filtered’ statement. Enough with the little history lesson, on with the whisky!
On the nose: oranges and citrus notes, strawberry jam. Underneath a very faint antiseptic note. More fruit (apricot). Comes across fairly young, partly because there’s a bit of an alcohol nip too. Digging past that, I picked up a soft nutty (almond) touch and a dark, dry, demerara sugar sweetness. Where’s the peat? Maybe a drop of water? Nope, it becomes sweeter, with a focus towards (orange) wine notes.
On the palate it doesn’t get any better I’m afraid. Very generic and plain. Slightly bitter. Again very little peat influence to be found – or anything else for that matter. A woody-oaky note and some grain, that’s about it. It benefits from a bit of water which brings back some of the sweetness, but overall it remains a bit harsh and again there’s that alcohol peppery bite that doesn’t exactly help with its development.
The finish is medium, driven by spices and softy woody bitter note.
It pains me to say, but in my experience, this is overall rather dull. Uninteresting and generic, verging towards becoming boring even. Stumbling upon the occasional dud is a bit of an occupational hazard – so to speak, but I’m afraid there’s little redeeming factors to be found here. The best part of it is the nose, which isn’t great to start with and it goes downhill pretty fast and pretty steep from there. Maybe I just stumbled on a poor batch, maybe it’s because they insisted on chillfiltering the whisky - I simply can’t tell you if the older expressions (which are unchillfiltered) are the way to go with this baby as I never tried one of those, but based on other reviews, that seems to be the case (watch here or here). Therefore, in my honest opinion, this just doesn’t cut it. If you’re a peathead, don’t bother. In fact, if you’re into whisky tout court, don’t bother. 68/100
Comments