Nose (according to the wife): Fresh fruit (pears, she though) along with some cracked pepper, nuts, and molasses.

Palate: Talk about a sherry bomb! The sherry influence really comes out swinging. Notes of molasses and honey are also present. It’s sweet but not overly so. You do get a bit of pepper and some almonds in here. Right toward the back, there is a lovely milk chocolate note that last through the finish. The mouthfeel is creamy and when combined with the chocolate note, reminds me of hot chocolate. With some water, the mouthfeel becomes even creamier with a slight aged oak note. Delicious.

Finish: Finish is medium-long with that chocolate note continuing on from the palate. The aftertaste reminds me of the aftertaste you get after having a few chocolate/yogurt raisins. Phenomenal.

Conclusion: I’m going to admit, I don’t think I expected a whole lot out of this bottle. The only other Glendronach I’ve tried is the 12 year old and that didn’t quite blow me away (it’s good, but not mind-blowing). This surprised me and turned out to be amazing. While it’s sweet from the sherry influence, the nut and chocolate notes do well to balance it out. Being something bottled at a high ABV and being NAS, I almost expected it to be “hot” and firey like a young whisky (kind of like how the Macallan Classic Cut and Edition No. 2 were). None of that is there, it’s extremely well-tempered which allows you to really take in all the beautiful notes. With Batch #7 coming out, I’m going to have to see if I can find any of releases from this series to try them.

Final Score: 93

Scotch whisky review #27, Speyside review #12, Whisky Network Review #36

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection.
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.