Glendronach 40 yo 1972 / 2012 #713 50.2% vs Glendronach 38 yo 1972 / 2010 #718 51.5% vs Glendronach 37 yo 1972 / 2009 #719 54.8%
Glendronach 40 yo 1972 / 2012 #713 50.2%
Frankly, a perfect sherry nose. A monument of dry richness, stuffed to the ears in jammy shrivelled fruit of various shades of purples and blacks. Yet also savoury with burnt sauce pans and charred bits without overdoing it. A perfect balance of all parts. So, without rambling, things like figs, raisins, prunes, black pepper, black bark tea but also bitumen and burnt ends. On the palate it pirouettes into sweeter territory, which is a surprise. Herbal infusions, maple syrup, sweet compote, praline and just one drop of soy sauce. At the finish another surprise as it unfortunately retreats into some real tannic bitterness. 91 pts
Glendronach 38 yo 1972 / 2010 #718 51.5%
Altogether different, this one being more extreme. Any richness is an undercurrent to prodigious levels of barky, earthy notes of tinctured herbs. Medicinal teas on boil, menthol, tar, pine cones, composting leaf litter, graphite oil. Touch of phenols now with those familiar charred notes of burnt ends and forgotten sauce pans. Plums skins and culinary herbs tossed into embers. On the tongue the tannins are curiously quiet, instead we revel in a sort of molasses and burnt jam effect, and this is where the deep fruit appears. Also cough syrup, allspice powder and fresh burnt tobacco. Old style sherry maturation par excellence. 92 pts
Glendronach 37 yo 1972 / 2009 #719 54.8%
Again, these casks were stellar and it shows. This one perhaps less charred and phenolic than #718, the desiccated richness of dark fruit bringing this closer to the #713. It still brings ample charcoal, dry bark and tar, along with familiar ground like that soy sauce, smoky dark resins, pure liquorice, allspice and black pepper (whew!) But then this exquisite dried fruit is more forward, and quickly presents itself, along with dark chocolate and molasses, to polish these edges into a perfect gem. Plenty of char on the tongue, and curry powder, smoking wood, roasted sage, fennel, cough drops and some mint. Another superlative whisky, might be my favourite of the three, but fair’s fair, its 92 pts again.
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