GlenDronach 1992 Cask #5852 27yrs

58.4% Oloroso Sherry Butt - Specially bottled for The Whisky Shop

Appearance: Dark amber with long & oily legs

Nose: Sweet/tangy wine, orchard fruits with extra stewed & warm blackberries. It’s rich and creamy with lots of sweetness filling the nose. Raisins, stewed plums, burnt peanut brittle, white pepper, and fresh brioche move around the glass in a delightful dance and climb up into the nostrils.

Palate: Sweet on first contact and then a chilli-tingle starts to build. As expected, there’s a dry nuttiness and a little bit more peppery heat, but it dissipates on the tongue and transforms into warm toffee sauce that coats the mouth. More chopped nuts appear before slowly fading, leaving very faint tobacco leaf and a whiff of sulphur.

Finish: Long. It goes from sweet to dry to sweet with a gentle creaminess that’s studded with fresh sliced juicy mild chilli. After a few minutes, the finish is still going strong and has a lingering tobacco leaf element with some dryness and a slight struck matchstick note.

Water adds.. Increased fruit on the nose, sweeter on the palate with white pepper rather than chilli. The finish is drier. Water works quite well and open it up.

Conclusion: A quintessentially aged Oloroso of the lighter kind. It’s not the heavy hard-hitting style that the 65x range of casks delivers. It’s nuttier and slightly more pepper-infused. The nose is fabulous, and I was holding the whisky in the glass for a good 20 minutes before I tasted it. However, the sulphur does bother me and reduces the enjoyment.

I love these cask selections for The Whisky Shop. They haven’t picked a bad one yet, and clearly know their stuff. They are definitely one of the shops to keep your ear to the ground with when it comes to their exclusive picks.

Available at thewhiskyshop.com for £300 (at the time of release)