Review #226: GlenDronach Single Cask 'The Belter' GAS Selection

After going back to Scotland last year and tasting a variety of cask strength and single cask scotches my love for scotch was reinvigorated. Unfortunately most of those great scotches aren’t readily available back here in the states and my time in bourbon world has left me with little desire to drink 80-86 proof, chill filtered whiskey so when I had the chance to grab a well aged, single cask, cask strength, GlenDronach bottling at a price that didn’t completely scare me away I had to take it.

At the time I had no idea what the GlenDronach Appreciation Society was and I still don’t really know much about them other than they picked this cask, they post on Instagram a fair amount and they made this YouTube video(I personally didn’t get any date paste or fig chutney notes on this dram).

 

Review #226 GlenDronach Single Cask “The Belter” GAS Selection

Age: 27 years

Abv: 109 proof

Cask Type: PX Sherry Puncheon

Price: £208

Neat

Nose: Rich and dark with grape, cherry and honey alongside an oak note and something else rich and earthy, tobacco maybe?

Taste: Very complex with wine like dark fruit notes, warm spice, honey, more of the earthy note from the nose and a bit of oak and leather toward the end. The mouthfeel is thick and almost sticky.

Finish: Long dry finish with more dark fruit, warm spice and oak notes.

Conclusion

For a 27 year old scotch the oak was surprisingly tame, though present, throughout the dram. The rich fruit and earthy notes were great and fit my preferences nicely. This is right up there with the r/scotch Wardhead single cask on my favorite scotches but is very much on the other end of my tastes.

While I won’t be buying another bottle of this specific cask, when this gets low I’ll definitely seek out another similar offering from GlenDronach.

 

TL;DR: Very good, very pricey but no regrets

4 Stars - Extraordinary whiskey: An all time favorite

 

Scale

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