Glendronach

Founded in 1826 by a group of farmers led by James Allardice, the Glendronach Distillery already had a solid reputation by the time it was nearly destroyed by fire only 11 years later. Allardice himself went bankrupt in 1842, so it was safe to say the business did not have the most positive of starts.

However, from 1852 onwards Glendronach rose like a phoenix from the ashes, becoming a highly sought after spirit for blending thanks to the judicious use of Sherry casks to provide rich ad dark fruit flavours. The popularity increased further when Billy Walker purchased the distillery from Pernod Ricard in 2008, accentuating the fruity nature, until Brown-Forman,owner of Jack Daniels, acquired it along with BenRiach and Glenglassaugh.

Glendronach can easily be considered massively in-demand from fans of heavily sherried Scotch, so there's a good chance what little I managed to get my hands on will disappear quickly!

Batch 12 see a combination of Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso Sherry casks married together to be bottled at a cask strength of 58.2% However, such is the intensity of fruit flavours the high ABV doesn't overpower in any way - although a drop of water will help releases the concentrated fruitcake and dark spice notes within.