Whisky Whiskey

Named after the Distillery’s founder, James Allardice, the 18 Year expression is very highly regarded, but can we trust the reviews from 5 years ago? I dig into the extended mothballing controversy at Glendronach that led to an over-selling of over-aged Whisky at younger age statements and how this impacted peoples perceptions of the brand. Ultimately though, it’s all about how it tastes and this one is rather good.

With John Chidgey.

The 15 Year Single Malt from Glendronach is called The Revival to reflect the resurrection of the Glendronach Distillery to being fully functional again. I also cover the controversy surrounding Glendronach’s version of filtering their Whiskies…is it different from Chill-Filtering with intent? We’ll see… The Revival is considered by some fans to be the starting point in the line up. I set about to find out why.

With John Chidgey.

Today I embark on a four-scotch tasting flight starting with the entry level Single Malt from Glendronach, the 12 Year. I also cover some of the Distillery’s history and who owns it at the moment. The 12 is the only one of their line up without a fancy name so I try to figure out if there’s a reason for that, or not.

With John Chidgey.

Somewhere between 2014 and 2020 Chivas Regal started releasing the ‘Extra’ which is now no longer available in this bottling. Since then they’re released 13 Year age statement blends with multiple different finishes as well. I touch on Casks vs Barrels and Barrel Volume vs Surface area and how that impacts Whisky maturation and finally, I review the original Extra to see if it brings anything…extra…to their 12 Year Blended Scotch.

With John Chidgey.

The final sample from the Loch Lomond pack comes out to play as I review the Loch Lomond 18 year. I also do a deep dive into Barrel Influence on maturing a Whisky relative to first fills, second fills and more, as well as how the ABV of the prior liquid impacts the wood over time and where the flavours from the Barrel are coming from. The 18 year…does NOT disappoint.

With John Chidgey.