Glendronach 21yo
‘Parliament’ official bottling (2021) | 46% ABV
Score: 8/10
Something special.
TL;DR
This late bottling easily beats many of the ‘dronach single casks of today
Investing in a happy life.
I’ve bought this whisky. With my own money. It’s therefore, technically, my whisky. But things are not always as they should be. As it turns out, it has de facto become Mrs McAtear’s whisky.
I’m not sure how many readers follow Murdo as a reviewer, I’m probably more memorable as the guy who takes his bottles outside and snaps photos of them with a cityscape in the background.
I hope this gives a little more of a hint, a little more depth to my location and my whisky context. Maybe also a little about me personally, a letter-box view, if you like? With that in mind, let me try to convey what Glendronach 21 means to us personally, here in the McAtear household.
Glendronach 21 is one of those whiskies that fascinated me when I first fell into whisky geekery during the pandemic years. To understand why it’s fascinating, let’s go on a brief tangent on the recent history of Glendronach.
Glendronach the distillery was mothballed in 1996, and reopened in 2002, meaning that nothing was distilled during those years. In 2006, ownership was passed onto Pernod Ricard, and again to the Benriach Distillery Company in 2008, spearheaded by the now legendary Billy Walker. Driven by traditional milestone age statements, in the 2010s, four age stated expressions came into existence, namely the 12, 15, 18 and 21 year olds.
A quick reminder on how age statements work in Scotch whisky terms. An age statement must defer to the youngest whisky in a bottle, so a 12 year old whisky can contain 12 year old whisky, in addition to anything older than 12 years old, should the producer choose to add such.
To give an example, a hypothetical bottle of supermarket 12 year old whisky could contain a cask of 12 year old whisky married with 10 casks of 18 year old whisky, and the age statement on that bottle would still only be 12; likewise, if an 18 year old cask of whisky was accidentally contaminated with a drop of 3 year old whisky, that cask can only be bottled as a 3 year old.
With that in mind, let’s explore the bottle in today’s review, and how the age statement is “misleading”, but in a positive way.
This bottle of Glendronach 21 I have on hand was bottled in 2021, in order for the whisky to be 21 years of age, it would have to be distilled in, at least, 2000. All well and good, until you remember that the distillery was not operational in 2000. As aforementioned, the distillery was mothballed in 1996 and not revived until 2002. The consequence is that this bottle of whisky is at least 25 years old, not the 21 years stated on the label.
Why has Glendronach given us a treat? We can only speculate. Perhaps when the four core range bottles were introduced, traditional age statement numbers were still the norm, and the distillery didn’t want to confuse customers as each year’s stock carried slightly different ages; perhaps Billy Walker envisioned these core range whiskies to be a staple which would outlast the quirks of the age statements, so he chose to not make a big deal about it. Anyhow, eagle-eyed enthusiasts spotted the intricacies and informed the world of the bargain they were getting.
You can learn more about the rolling state-of-play here over at Thijs Klaverstijn’s excellent Words of Whisky site, with a deeper dive article which has been updated a couple of times since original publication.
It’s worth noting that Glendronach is not the only distillery in a similar situation. Glencadam, for instance, was also mothballed for three years in the early 2000s, but they chose another path. Instead of releasing overaged whiskies, they chose to suspend their releases during respective years, and bring back those whiskies when they have the appropriate stocks. For example, the 15 and 18 year old expressions have previously been suspended for a few years, and now the 21 year old. Each to their own.
Anyway, back to Mrs. McAtear and her affection with this Glendronach 21.
Mrs. McAtear is a drinker; “any alcohol” is her motto. But she’s not a geek like myself, she’s a social drinker. More relevantly, she’s more into wine than she is into whisky, thanks to the influence of my old man. Very annoyingly, her palate gravitates towards expensive stuff, whether it be wine, whisky, or other spirits, somehow her preferences align with the higher end, so naturally, she prefers the glamorous Glendronach 21 over, as an example, a respectable AnCnoc 24.
Recently, at Joe’s Whisky Shop - my local retailer, he had two bottles of Glendronach 21 available for the equivalent of £185. With the price of this bottle generally well over £200 in my market, I snapped them up. £370 of my hard-earned cash evaporating from my pocket is a hard pill to swallow, but if it can keep the missus’ whisky enjoyment for several years ahead, maybe it’s worth it. “Happy wife, happy life” as they say.
If Mrs McAtear was a Dramface writer, she’d probably give this a 10/10, but she’s not, so let’s leave it to the professional, yours truly. And, with her permission, I’ll give you my honest appraisal - with one or two pictures taken with cityscape backdrops, just so you know it’s me.
Review
Glendronach 21yo, Official bottling, 2020 batch, 46% ABV
£185 paid, still some dusties around, but the word’s out; this is secondary market fodder.
Score: 8/10
Something special.
TL;DR
This late bottling easily beats many of the ‘dronach single casks of today
Nose
Dense with a nice sherry overcoat. Toffee, honey, brown sugar, dark chocolate and coffee, baked oranges, cinnamon sticks, leather; it’s relatively spirit forward on the nose for a typical 21 year old, which is quite refreshing. With a bit of time in the glass, the density eases up a bit, and there’s even a hint of menthol on offer.
Palate
Syrupy and creamy arrival, with an assortment of dried fruits, like raisins and dates. Sugar cane, rich honey, cinnamon, caramel, ginger, walnuts, some tannins - meaty even. The finish is medium in length, slightly sulphurous, but very complex; tobacco leaves, coffee beans, dark chocolate, burnt toffee, burnt marshmallows. This is such a decadent whisky, and again, time in the glass is well rewarded.
The Dregs
I thought I was going to low-ball this one on the scoring, given my general preference for pale whiskies, but as I went through this whisky, I was reminded how special this bottle was. When given time in the glass, it was obvious why I too had such a soft spot for it.
While these days I do prefer well-aged, spirit-led whiskies, I find that I equally appreciate well-balanced cask matured whiskies too. A great example would be this Signatory Vintage Linkwood.
This Glendronach is not that, it’s a full-on sherry bomb, and I’ll say it again, it’s decadent. It is not something that I would reach for frequently, but if I am looking for that luxurious sherry experience, this is right up there with the best, and it’s even more impressive considering that this was once a core range whisky.
I’d even go on to suggest that £185 for this bottle of whisky is fairly priced, whether it’s 21 or 25 year old juice. When one considers how much their official single casks are going for, a teenage bottle of those could easily fetch over £250, and there’s no guarantee that it would be as good.
If this 21 year old sounds like your jam, it’d be better to act quickly because this expression has already been discontinued, and I have a strong feeling that the new premiumised 21 year old would come with a very different profile.
As for me - as far as I’m concerned, Mrs McAtear’s stash has already been secured for the foreseeable future.
Score: 8/10 MMc
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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