Glendronach 21 YO Parliament
Category: Single Malt
Manufacturer and bottler: The Glendronach Distillery (Brown - Forman)
Region: Highlands
Fortress: 48%
Volume: 700 ml
Bottling date: 12/16/2019
Barrel type: Pedro Ximénez & Oloroso Sherry Casks
Min. exposure: 21 years
Filtration: none
Dye: no
Nose. Plum and apricot jam, candied orange, baked apples and pears, glazed cherries, blackberries, sugar syrup, milk chocolate, creamy toffee, brown raisins, dates, oatmeal cookies, hazelnuts, mint, cinnamon, ginger, sugar cane. Thick, dense, sweet-spicy nose. The aroma is similar to that of the 15-year-old Dronach, but more concentrated, saturated, or something.
Taste. Noticeably more bitter, tannic and viscous than all predecessors. Dense, well accepts water. Cinnamon, ginger, nuts, some herbaceousness and wood are in the foreground, while fruity, chocolatey, vanilla sweetness and a slight berry-citrus, tartaric acidity are in the background. It seems that this whisky does not tolerate haste - if you give it enough time and take every sip in all its fullness and variety, then it will pay you back a hundredfold.
Aftertaste. Long. Very dry. Ginger, grass, wood, raisins, baked orange.
Outcome. In this release, there is a clearly more tangible influence of shutter speed and an increased degree, which noticeably adds up to a greater “complexity” of its perception compared to its predecessors. This whisky is a real "concentrate" of fruits, dried fruits, berries, sweets and spices and requires close and careful attention to reveal all its details and nuances. Although I liked it a little less than 18, it is still an extra-class whisky, maybe you just need to “grow up” to it.
Rating: 89 out of 100.