Whiskies Worth the Hype: Bladnoch & GlenDronach from K&L

Sometimes it seems like whisky quality is inversely proportional to the hype surrounding it. I can no longer count the amount of times I've been let down by highly touted special releases. On the other hand, obscure indy bottlings or even budget daily pours are sometimes unpublicized gems. During the holiday season, the whisky hype can get totally out of the control, which is why it is especially refreshing to find some bottles that meet if not exceed the hype.

Earlier this year I wrote about K&L's exclusive barrel series in which the spirit buying Davids of K&L went to Scotland to select their own barrels from both distilleries and independent bottlers. The Davids took up a fair amount of bandwidth talking about how great these barrels were, so expectations were pretty high. Now the bottles are in the store, and I've been able to taste a handful of them, I must say that I agree that, at least with regard to the ones I've tasted, they are some pretty special bottles. Here is a review of two of my favorite so far.

Bladnoch 1992, 18 years old (Chieftain’s), Cask 4195, 270 bottles, 55.3% abv (K&L exclusive $89.99).

A Lowland distillery that was mothballed for much of the '90s and doesn't send its distillery bottlings to the US, Bladnoch is not easy to find. Even finding independent bottlings can be a challenge. The nose on this Chieftain's bottling is of pure, rich malt with a pinch of dried fruit in the back. The palate is also malt forward with sweet grassy notes, fruit cocktail syrup, and perhaps just a touch of a sherry-like quality. The finish is sweet and malty with fruit. This reminds me of some of the best Lowlanders I've had, thick, rich, malty and syrupy (but not at all light, which is the stereotype for Lowlanders that really only applies to Auchentoshan). Good stuff and a very good price for what it is.


GlenDronach 1994, 16 years old, Cask 3186, 56% abv (K&L exclusive $116).

This is the other side of the spectrum from the Bladnoch, a huge sherry monster of a whisky. This whisky consists of two bourbon cask aged malts which were combined and finished in a Pedro Ximenez sherry cask for a short time (around six months). It was bottled by the distillery for K&L. The nose is a full on sherry assault with candied fruit and maybe even a bit of cinnamon. The palate kicks in very sweet; that dissipates a bit s you go, but it stays pretty sweet throughout. You don't get any malt flavors until the finish when the malt really kicks in. Drinking this neat is too sweet for my tastes, but water really does wonders for it, bringing out the malty flavor that's hinted at in the finish. A few drops of water cuts the sweetness and gives it a balance that was lacking when neat.

These are two dramatically different but very good whiskies. The entire list of K&L exclusive bottlings can be found on the right hand column of the K&L Spirits Blog.

Whiskey Wednesday: GlenDronach

GlenDronach is a relatively obscure Speyside distillery, known for sherried malts, which has been raising its profile of late. Like Ardbeg and Bruichladdich, GlenDronach was closed for a brief period in the '90s. The distillery shuttered in 1996 and was reopened in 2002, but the real action took place in 2008 when liquor giant Pernod-Ricard sold the distillery to the owners of the BenRiach Distillery. BenRiach rebooted GlenDronach and launched a new line of whiskies including 12, 15, 18, 31 and 33 year old expressions and a vintage series. The 12, 15 and 18 began hitting US shelves in 2010 so I thought I would check them out. (Excluding the 31 which doesn't seem to be available in the US).

GlenDronach 12 "Original", 43% ($45)

The Original is aged in Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks. I love the nose on this with chocolate, sherry and dried cherries. The palate is sweet with chocolate notes. The finish is sweet with sherry fumes. This screams to be accompanied by a chocolate bar in the 80% cacao range. There is not a huge amount of complexity here but it's a pleasant sherried number.


GlenDronach 15 "Revival," 46% ($75)

Probably the most popular GlenDronach, the Revival is aged in Oloroso sherry casks. The nose is much more muted than the 12, with less sweetness but the same sherry interplay with just a touch of rubber. On the palate, you get a bit drier sherry with malt and the background. There are some of the same chocolate notes that you get with the 12 but less sweetness. It's a solid sherried malt.


GlenDronach 18 "Allardice," 46% ($120)

Named for the distillery's founder James Allardice, the Allardice, like the Revival, is also aged in Olorso sherry casks. The nose on this one is really wonderful. It doesn't bang you over the head at all but it's got some deep sherry and deep dark chocolate going on. The palate starts with a drier sherry than the others. There are some metallic notes and some interesting botanical notes which last into the finish that are almost vermouth like. This is a very nice one.


GlenDronach 33, Vintage 1971, 40% ($330)

The nose on this has very refined, dry sherry notes. The palate is very pure, dry sherry flavor with some vanilla, floral and woody notes as well. There is lots of flavor packed into this even at only 40% abv. The finish is fleeting with sherry and fruit. This is certainly the most complex of the lot.



Tasting through these all at once, the house style is definitely heavy on sweet sherry with chocolate notes, though they get drier as they age. For my part, the 12 was a bit too sweet for me, and I tended to enjoy them more as they got older. Fans of Macallan, Glenfarclas and other sherried malts should definitely give GlenDronach a try.