Glendronach 19 Years Old Batch 8 Cask:101 58.4% 1994

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (90)

Colour: very dark amber. Nose: why this oloroso is sweeter than the PX on the nose, I don’t know. This is much more on classic prunes and raisins and Seville oranges and dark rum and… burnt matches. Not many, but quite a few. Some ham too, tobacco, then more old wine, barrels, saltpetre, chocolate… Tends to converge with the PXs I have to say. With water: chocolate, chocolate and chocolate. So it became narrower but if you like chocolate, this is for you. Mouth: very rich but crisper than the others. Blood oranges? Sure it’s a heavy baby but it’s sippable even at almost 60% vol. Maybe it’s just a little too prickly and gritty. Read ‘green and grassy’, as some sherry monsters can be. Water should help. With water: you bet it does! This time it’s cinchona, tonic water, pepper and ginger that play first fiddles but I love that. Indeed, I’m a Campari kind of guy. Finish: long, peppery, greatly bitter. The aftertaste is a little dusty but that actually works in this context. Comments: another 90. They’re all different but it’s just impossible to claim that one is ‘better’ than the others. Or even ‘more to my liking’, apologies Mom.