Review of my whisky year - 2017

First of all thank you to all the people who have read my blog (c16,500) and followed me on Twitter (c900) since I started back in January with my first whisky post.

GlenDronach Trio

I'm ashamed to admit that I've never tried a GlenDronach whisky before.... I can't explain why, they just never came on my radar. So in an effort to clear some space in my sample box I've put together three of their whiskies that I've swapped over the last few months.

Thanks to @MaltMan_Mike for the 12yo & 18yo and @Whisk_Whisk for the 15yo - so a nice range of #dramples, what can I tell you about them?

@GlenDronach is a Highland distillery founded in 1826 and now owned by the BenRiach Distillery Company Ltd under Brown-Forman.

So on to the whiskies!

All of these are natural colour and non-chill filtered, matured in ex-sherry casks and you can immediately tell the age difference (left to right) as the colour becomes darker.

On pouring the drams my room immediately filled with the aroma of sherry!

Whisky : 12yo Original
Characteristics : 700ml 43% ABV Not coloured & Non-chill filtered
Price : £40 many outlets
Distillery info : "This superb richly sherried single malt is matured for at least 12 years in a combination of the finest Spanish Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks. A sweet, creamy dram."

Colour : Deep Copper
In the Glass : Fast thin legs when swirled
Nose : Sweet sherry with orchard fruits and a little toffee. A bit of a burnt sugar note after a while.
Palate: Very smooth creamy, tongue coating little number! Lots of honey along with the apples and pears from the nose. This is joined by dried fruit and a little drying icing sugar. There is a little sweetness but not as much as expected. There's lovely spice notes and a hint of dark nutty chocolate.
Finish : A spicy drying finish with sherry tickling all the way down!

Whisky : 15yo Revival

Characteristics : 700ml 46% ABV Not coloured & Non-chill filtered
Price : Discontinued whilst stock matures
Distillery info : "Renowned amongst many whisky enthusiasts around the world, this remarkable and full bodied malt is matured for a minimum of 15 years in the finest Oloroso sherry casks. A truly excellent single malt."

Colour : Tawny
In the Glass : Slow thin legs when swirled
Nose : Quite different from the 12yo - there is hardly any sweetness but there is a distinct note of balsamic vinegar and again a little toffee but no apples or pears.
Palate: A much thicker mouthfeel than the 12yo, again honey but no orchard fruit - more dried raisins and sultanas, there's that drying icing sugar note and a loads of nuttiness. Some biscuit, chocolate and red berry notes but not much spice.
Finish : Again quite drying, the spice hits you now - a peppery chilli hit. again a hint of nuts along with the sherry. This is a much longer lingering spicy finish than the 12yo.

Whisky : 18yo Allardice

Characteristics : 700ml 46% ABV Not coloured & Non-chill filtered
Price : £75 many outlets
Distillery info : "Named after the renowned founder of the distillery, James Allardice. This exceptional sherried single malt is matured in the finest Spanish Oloroso sherry casks and bottled at 46%, this sublime richly sherried malt is truly unforgettable."

Colour : Mahogany
In the Glass : Gravity defying very slow thin legs when swirled
Nose : Again a quite different nose - plums, rich dark chocolate and a lots of toffee. This develops with a fruit and nuttiness reminiscent of that well known chocolate bar! This one is very complex - there's also some plump juicy raisins bursting out of the glass.
Palate: Like the 15yo a thick mouthfeel, smooth and creamy and like the 12yo has a little spice. Not as much sherry as the 15yo, the oak has had a longer influence and is coming through a little more. There is a nutty note alongside the drying icing sugar. The spice, like the 12yo, is a little more immediate than the 15yo but is more intense - they obviously used hotter chillies in the recipe!
Finish : Very spicy, drying, oaky finish with fading sherry notes and a nuttiness.



Overall : After these three drams I needed to go and get a drink of water - my mouth was bone dry, all three had similar icing sugar notes which stole the moisture from my mouth.
They all shared an obvious sherry influence but I think that mellowed as the age increased and the wood had more of an influence. It's interesting that I didn't get the Christmas cake mix impression from any of them - they were sherried but not huge sherry bombs.
Personally I think they are all great whiskies, the 12yo has some lovely orchard fruit notes which alongside the sweet honey makes for a great east drinking dram. The 18yo was slightly better, it's older age giving a more spicy plate but I think the 15yo hits the sweetspot and the spice holding until the finish really impressed me. 

Walsh Whiskey @TweetTastings

Another Wednesday - another @TweetTasting from @TheWhiskyWire, this time a set of Irish drams from @WalshWhiskey. This is the second Irish tasting Steve has organised in a few weeks, see Dublin Liberties here.

This one is from a long standing Irish bottler which has also recently opened it's own distillery, and started distilling in 2016 - we look forward to sampling their whiskey in the fullness of time. In the meantime they have a range which includes The Irishman and Writer's Tears which we sampled this evening.

As usual an unmarked package arrived in the post....

Opening it revealed four #dramples of Triple Distilled Irish Whiskey and a nice leaflet giving information about the distillery and tasting notes for the drams.

There was nearly a hiccup the night before the tasting when Rudolf nearly ran away with my drams....

On to the tasting:

First up was Writer's Tears Copper Pot

My thoughts:

Nose : Light gold in colour, initial nose : vanilla and tropical fruit. Woody influence, bags of vanilla, tropical fruit and some baked apples. Hint of a little cinnamon or ginger?

Palate : Smooth and slightly oily, quite sweet initially, then fruity and a lovely spice at he end. Quite a long spicy finish, seems to gets drier as your drink more - the fruitiness tails off a little and the spice kicks in - a very pleasant dram!

Other people's thoughts:

Next was The Irishman Cask Strength 2017

My thoughts:

Nose : Oak, Toffee, old leather. No indication of the 54% ABV, this one develops well have being left in the glass for a while - baked apples or apple crumbles but with a citrus note - oranges maybe? There's some toffee or fudge there too - like a apple toffee cobbler thing - what do you call them?

Palate : Apple crumble and orange,  a bit hit of spice, don't really get the strength very much. Smooth slightly oily, very drying  with hints of the apple from the nose. Some vanilla on the tongue with oak.

Other people's thoughts:

 

Third was Writer's Tears Red Head

My thoughts:

Nose : Lovely red tint to this one. Initial nose has hints of Christmas cake mix and spices. Dried fruit and sherry - some cinnamon, also a little oak and leather - beautiful!

Palate : Very smooth and buttery with a hint of honey, lots of spice with citrus fruit on the tongue. A little hint of nut chewing away in the background!

Other people's thoughts:

Final dram of the evening was The Irishman Founder's Reserve

My thoughts:

Nose : Beautiful golden colour, slow legs in the glass. Initial nose gives the red wine hints but also red fruit! Wine, plums dates and a hint of spice. Some vanilla maybe marzipan (Thanks @Whisky_And1) definitely almonds in there - yummy!

Palate : Unexpectedly chewy! Hints of the wine but hold it on the tongue and it's fruity and it's but as soon as you swallow the spice hits you!

Other people's thoughts:

For me the Irishman Cask Strength was the best of the evening, but not everyone agreed!

Many thanks to Steve for organising, Walsh for supplying the drams and my fellow tweeters for making a really enjoyable evening!

Other reviews:

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