Glendronach 1993 Single Cask Review

Hi everyone,

Got something special today.

Single cask Glendronach.

When I first started tasting whisky, the idea was to get a really special bottle for my 21st birthday from my birth year. But I wanted to be able to appreciate this bottle and choose something special too. I needed to know what I was doing.

So I found Ralfy’s videos and watched those, then started to learn more. I started to learn what words like ‘colouring free,’ ‘Non-Chillfiltered,’ ‘cask strength,’ and ‘single cask’ meant and why they were important. After trying the 15yo Revival, I decided this was the one to go for.

I finished the bottle ages ago but saved a small sample for future me to try.

Glendronach 1993 Single Cask 59.4%

Colour: Dark Amber

Body: Full

Nose: Sweet and spicy. Dry, rich, lots of fruit- plums, dates, raisins, dark cherries, dry sherry, toffee, 80% dark chocolate, leather, dried banana, herbal note- clove, liquorice, vanilla pods, honey, strong tea, nutty, perfumey notes, wax, figs, ginger.

Coming back to my sample I saved- Brown sugar, dry oak, soy sauce, less fruit than I remember, but some earthy and meaty complexity I don’t remember being there before.

Water: More toffee, butterscotch, little bit of chocolatey malt, vanilla fudge, brown sugar, golden syrup, toffee coffee.

Taste: Sweet, fresh clean sherry, dried fruit- Fig, date, plum, some leather, cherry, raisin, drying with tannins, toffee, clove, spice, pepper and salt. Sometimes red wine, lots of brown sugar, well brewed tea. After some time a chocolatey malt note develops.

Coming back to my sample I saved- Big, very rich, dry oak, fruity with black cherry, plum and date, dark chocolate, then spicy oak builds with ginger and something perfumed. Just as delicious as I remember.

Water: Softer arrival, less spicy, less oak, more brown sugar, honey and a perfumed note. Really thick and chewy, then lots of 90% dark chocolate into the finish.

Finish: Long length. Drying with burnt sugar, oak, dark chocolate and some coffee.

Cask 536, bottled 06/2012. Even more delicious brown sugar after time in the bottle. Really enjoyed this but prices of these single casks rose quite a bit after I got this, also 1993 seems to be a really popular vintage and always sells out super fast.

83/100

Thanks for reading!

Review #336

Network Average: 74.5

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, I have never accepted free samples from anyone in the whisky industry, but have bought bottles or samples with my money, bringing a different set of biases. Also, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.