When it comes to scotch, I am always willing to try something new. The world is spoiled for choice and it’s going to be a long (though very fun) journey to taste even half of what’s available right now.
That’s just me though. For those with more modest and reasonable ambitions, only the best value for the buck counts. Fortunately, even though whisky prices are busy shooting into the stratosphere, good deals still exist.
Glendronach 15 Year Old “Revival” qualifies as one of the best whiskies you can still get for under 200 bucks a bottle. If you’re a whisky lover on a budget, it’s better to get one of these than the very overrated “branded” whiskies out there; it’s truly a masterpiece and I consider it a steal at this price.
The Glendronach distillery is located by itself on the eastern fringes of the Speyside, fairly distant from the other Speyside distilleries clustered near Elgin or Dufftown next to the river Spey. It was founded by James Allardice in 1826, and like many other Scottish distilleries, it has seen its ups and downs; fire, mothballing and numerous sales dot its history. Most recently owned by a former rival, Benriach, it has a story as colourful as its whisky.
The legend is that James Allardice, like most entrepreneurs, had a lot of trouble when he was just starting out. In this case, Allardice, having spent many years distilling his (at long last, legal) spirits and maturing them in oak casks, finally skipped down to Edinburgh to sell it to the local pubs. Or rather, he made a long, arduous journey on his horse-carriage to find that the pubs were not looking for whisky at the time; James arrived late in the season.
James was predictably upset about his bad luck, so skipping the obvious answer of drowning his sorrows in whisky, he instead resorted to an entirely different sort of adult recreation. Checking into the nearest brothel, he decided to have some fun and hired some ladies of the night (read: prostitutes) to stroke…his flagging ego. Of course, they drew from his as yet unused stock of whisky to liven up the evening.
The ladies’ taste proved to be exquisite and they found the Glendronach whisky to be very fine indeed. Being generous sorts, they decided to tell all their friends and more importantly, clients about it. The oldest social network on Earth was deployed and news spread like wildfire through Edinburgh. Soon enough, everyone had to have their own bottle of Glendronach whisky and James Allardice became a very rich man indeed.
Let’s find out if the ladies’ glowing reviews hit the mark.
On first inspection, the colour of the 15 Year Old “Revival” is a deep, rich and natural amber. It reminds me of a small pitcher of dark honey, and it’s probably one of the darkest whiskies I’ve ever tried.
The nose is of spiced orange, cloves, sherry, with a slight whiff of vanilla rounding up the flavours. There is however, a discernible smell of alcohol. At 46% ABV, I definitely recommend diluting it with a few drops of water to take part of the edge off. Overall, it’s not intoxicating, but pleasant and approachable.
On the first sip, I detected flavours of orange and slightly bitter chocolate. On subsequent tastes, the citrus eventually gave way to a bit of spice. Fairly sweet like most Oloroso sherry-cask whiskies, the Revival is smooth and goes down like a dream. Not overly complex, with sufficient depth to be interesting. It’s rather thick in the mouth, giving it a satisfying texture. As a whole package, it reminds me of an orange liqueur chocolate. Tasty.
The finish is pretty good. It’s mostly the spicy, woody taste that lingers lightly on the tongue. The orange flavours disappear fairly quickly. A pleasant warmth that isn’t cloying and knows when its time is up.
Overall I’d say that this might not be the most complex whisky I’ve ever tasted, but my opinion is that it doesn’t aspire to be. Unpretentious, with just the right amount of depth and balance to be enjoyed every day, I can heartily recommend the Glendronach 15 Year Old “Revival” for its pleasant orange chocolate flavour.
