We’re seeing a lot of GlenDronach 2002 releases lately. Remember this is the year the distillery was restarted after having been mothballed for six years.
Note that GlenDronach is keeping a lot of these 2002 casks aside to create the new 12 year-old, which is now effectively much older as there is no stock from 1996-2002. Nonetheless some of them are now hitting the market as single casks bottled for different parties. It’s funny that this expression has the same cask number as one of these magnificent 1972 vintages. Anyway it’s a sister cask of the 2002 for The Whisky Fair.
GlenDronach 11 yo 2002 (52,1%, OB for The Whisky Agency 2013, Pedro Ximénez sherry puncheon #712, 624 btl.)
GlenDronach 11 yo 2002 (52,1%, OB for The Whisky Agency 2013, Pedro Ximénez sherry puncheon #712, 624 btl.)Nose: rich and sweet, with loads of brown sugar, caramel, raisins, cinnamon syrup… Red berries (moving towards cassis), some leather and vanilla, giving it a bourbonny and rummy aspect (was this a re-racked cask?). Big honey notes too. Really nice.
Mouth: similarly syrupy and honeyed, now a little more spices (nutmeg, ginger, pepper, speculoos). Sultanas, prune galore, dates and orange jam. The sticky toffee sweetness has something of old sherried blends, but I can’t put my finger on it.
Finish: long, no need to mention the strong sweetness, with all kinds of liqueurs and honey.
I couldn’t do a direct head-to-head, but this one seems sweeter than cask #710, with less emphasis on spices. Almost too much of the (natural) caramel and syrupy notes, although it’s a perfect match for this time of the year. Around € 80.
Score: 88/100