Side by side: Four from GlenDronach

I can't remember the last time I reviewed a GlenDronach so here, to make up, are four cask strength bottlings.

Three single casks and the latest Cask Strength Batch.

Like Tamdhu and Glenfarclas, GlenDronach matures it's whisky exclusively in Spanish oak sherry casks seasoned with Pedro Ximénez or Oloroso. But also like Tamdhu and Glenfarclas they fill ex-bourbon casks like the SMWS one featured below. So which is the distillery character - bourbon or sherry?

In my opinion you get to see a distillery's character when trying a single cask ex-bourbon matured bottling. But what if the distillery only releases sherry rinsed matured casks? Is that not their distillery character? Sometimes you can still identify some of the ex-bourbon characteristics in an ex-sherry bottling but sometimes they are lost. I've tried loads of sherry bomb bottles where the cask has completely masked any distillery character - the bottling could have been from anywhere.

 A Master Blender may disagree - they might say that marrying a number of different cask types together to form their 'standard' core release is the distillery character. But what happens when that Master Blender moves on or retires and the new one has a different palate - does distillery character change?

We might believe that distillery character originates in the distillate, but some distilleries have more than one type of still. It would follow then that an inert cask - second or third fill ex-bourbon might be better to judge character?

What about age? I recently tried some single cask bottlings from the same distillery, some with the same maturation casks and to be honest I preferred the youngest to the oldest bottlings - closer to the new make spirit - less cask influence? But if you don't have any maturation new make spirit isn't drinkable in large quantities - what we want is flavour and that only comes from maturation in an oak cask.

At the end of the day we all have different palates and all like different whiskies - you might think you can detect similarities in drams from the same distillery but is that because you know what they are? I've tried nearly 500 drams blind and whilst I'm pretty good at guessing ABV, maturation and sometimes age, I'm pretty rubbish at getting the correct distillery - I might as well be trying to identify the colour of the stillman's trousers!

Let's try some whisky!

Dram	2007 11yo [SMWS] 96.28 Granny juice	2005 11yo Single Cask #1441 (Distillery BYO)	2002 13yo Single Cask #4651 Batch 13	Cask Strength Batch 11
Characteristics	D: 20 Jun '07, B: '18 RF Bourbon 59.5% ABV	D:29 Nov '05, B:1 May '17 Sherry Puncheon Cask  57.7% ABV	D: 26 Jun '02, B: Feb '16 PX  Puncheon finish 54.8% ABV	B: 29+30 Jun '22 PX and Oloroso 59.8% ABV
Distillery / Bottler notes	Lots of juicy fruit chewing gum, pineapple, melon, guava and other ripe exotic fruits in evidence on the nose at first. Also lime, white truffle, mint choc chip ice cream, pear tart tatin and curry leaf. A wee squidge of herbal toothpaste as well. Water brings out greener fruits, chopped parsley, chicken broth, muesli, dried apple rings and fruits of the forest. There’s a slice of lemon cheesecake topped with chopped hazelnuts as well. The initial taste revels many fresh herbs, cough medicines, sweet biscuits, shortbread, clove rock, hawthorne and chamomile tea. A light sootiness and freshly made hummus with lots of olive oil. With reduction the palate is still lightly tropical. Notes of citrus oils, cough mixtures, herbal ointments, wood resins, barley sugar and warm, sweet porridge.	None	None	The GlenDronach Cask Strength offers connoisseurs a deep insight into the distillery’s signature character. Add a drop or two of water to reveal a cornucopia of flavour – from richly spiced bramble wine and treacle toffee, to lingering Seville orange peel and nutmeg layered with caramel and maraschino cherry. Such is the reward of our eleventh batch of The GlenDronach Cask Strength, a richly sherried Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky matured in fine Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks. Nose: Mulled cranberry, orange and clove liqueur meld with dark honeyed treacle on a base of nutty oak. Palate: Richly spiced bramble wine and treacle toffee interweave with chocolate raisin, cinnamon maple and sultana. Conclusion: Lingering Seville orange peel and nutmeg layered with caramel and maraschino cherry.
My thoughts:
Appearance
	Mid gold in the glass, swirls clings as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.	Mid bronze in the glass, swirls clings as a thin line, take an age to bead up and fall as slow thick legs.	Mid bronze in the glass, swirls clings as a thin line, take an age to bead up and fall as slow thick legs.	Light bronze in the glass, swirls clings as a thin line, take an age to bead up and fall as slow thick legs.
Nose	Tropical fruit notes to start: melon, banana, pineapple; there's a little milk chocolate, some tart citrus and some ginger & cardamom spice hints.	Straight into sherry bomb territory with lots of dunnage funk, blueberries, dates, prunes, black cherries etc. There's a little sweetness from honey, toffee and brown sugar. A little marzipan nuttiness and some liquorice.	A similar nose to the 11yo: sherry bomb dark fruits, dunnage funk and sweetness. The extra couple of years has dulled this one a little but added an extra layer of complexity with some earth forest floor notes.	A much more meaty dram - BBQ steak notes without being smoky. There's honey, dried fruit, sticky gingerbread cake and walnut notes. A little sweet citrus rounds things off.
Palate	Thick sweet oily arrival, immediately spicy, loads of vanilla notes, tropical fruit and citrus. Juicy pineapple, mango and melon to the fore. There's some almond biscuit notes and cardamom spice. Lemon bonbons, sweet, zingy and dry left on the tongue as the liquid disappears.	Thick sweet arrival, all the dark fruit from the nose, sherried dried fruit and a little balsamic vinegar. Toffee and brown sugar linger with some marzipan almond notes. There's some orange juice, liquorice and a little oak. A dry cardamom and peppery spice finish things off.	Another sweet thick arrival, not as spicy this time, a little more sweet with  blueberry jam and caramel notes. There is a dry flinty note with this one and some of the earthiness from the nose. There is some nuttiness, cardamom spice and a lovely dry cinnamon note as the liquid disappears.	Sweet, thick arrival (did you see I mixed it up a bit? They are very similar!) This one is a little hotter - more spicy - younger probably. A Sherry grenade rather than a bomb. Jammy, sherried dried fruit, some ginger bread and lots of spice. There's a little orange in here and the almond nuttiness.
Finish	Lingering dry spice, lemon zest and cardamom spice.	Long dry and spicy with some sweet orange and toffee notes.	Long dry and spicy with some sweet caramel and oak notes.	Long dry and very spicy - the youth shows through.
Overall	The refill bourbon casks has had an impact over it's 11 years adding vanilla notes, tropical fruit and dry spice to the dram. The cardamom notes that slow from the nose to the finish and the lemon notes must be from the spirit - is this GlenDronach's distillery character? Like an ex-bourbon Tamdhu bottle I had a few years ago, this one questions the status quo but delivers a lovely dram. The 11yo is your typical sherry bomb, lovely, but to be honest could you really tell which distillery it was from? I can't... Could have been Tamdhu, Edradour or 50 others. There were some marzipan and cardamom hints - is this the distillery character?  The 13yo was very similar, the additional 2 years adding a little complexity, some earthy notes and a little more dry oakiness, but still very much a sherry bomb! The CS version is maybe a little younger than the two previous drams - 8yo maybe? It's a little rough around the edges and maybe could have taken some water? At the end of the day they were all enjoyable, blind I'd never have guessed GlenDronach - but does it really matter? Just enjoy your drams!

Many thanks to Gareth @bhoy_whisky, Tony @22craftsman, Alex @dailydrambyalex, Alasdair @WhiskyAlly respectively for the sample swaps!