GlenDronach 15 Revival review, and I will start with a complaint: the name. Revival suggests something that was dead, and GlenDronach was never dead, merely sold to the wrong people for a while. The whisky itself, though, is a proper sherry bomb at 46% for about £73, and the name can have its moment.
This is the bottle I would hand to anyone who says they want a rich, dark, sherried malt without paying Macallan prices, and it is the one that explains why GlenDronach has such a loyal following.
GlenDronach is the Highland distillery at Forgue, in Aberdeenshire, owned by Brown-Forman, and it has built its name on sherry casks. The 15 is bottled at 46% and aged in Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. The GlenDronach distillery page has the history, including the unusual story of a distillery that was mothballed for years and brought back.
That story is the origin of the Revival name. The 15 sits above the GlenDronach 12, which is the entry point, and below the 18 Allardice and the 21. It is a sherried malt with the volume turned up and the sulphur turned down, which is how you want it.
Like the rest of the core range it is bottled without chill filtration and without added colour, which matters more with sherried whisky than with any other kind, because the oils and the depth of colour are part of the point. Chill filtration and colour explains what is lost when those steps are used.
Dark fruit, treacle and cocoa, with a little tobacco on the edge.
The nose is thick with dark fruit: figs, raisins and prunes, then treacle, dark chocolate and a little orange peel. There is a faint nutty, tobacco note under it, which is the Oloroso showing its age.
The palate is full and oily. Dark fruit and chocolate lead, with a rich toffee sweetness and a wedge of warm spice, and a slightly bitter edge that keeps it honest. At 46% it has body to spare, and it handles a splash of water without losing its structure.
The finish is long and drying, with cocoa, spice and a nutty bitterness that hangs around. It fades slowly, and it is the kind of finish that makes you pour another one.
Neat, with a drop or two of water. I would not add ice, and I would not mix it. Water and ice explains the water, and the reasoning for no ice is simple: it hides the dark fruit you paid for.
It is a winter whisky. It goes with dark chocolate, a fire and a long conversation, and it is a good gift for someone who likes strong flavour.
About £73 for 70 cl, against about £50 for the GlenDronach 12, which scores 82. The 15 scores 83 on my page. That is a small gain for about £23 more, and it makes the 12 the better value, though the 15 is a richer and more serious whisky.
The nearby competition is Glenfarclas 12, which scores 80 at about £48, and Macallan 12 Double Cask, which scores 78 at about £76. The GlenDronach gives you more sherry than either for the same money. It is not the cheapest of the sherried malts, and it is among the best of them.
Inside the family the ladder reads: the 12 at about £50 scores 82, the 15 at about £73 scores 83, and the 18 at about £185 scores 85. The 15 is the point where the cost per point is still sane, which is why it is the one I keep recommending to people who ask what to buy.
Sherry-aged whisky has a reputation problem. Poor casks can leave a rubbery, sulphurous note that some people love and most do not. GlenDronach has a reputation for good casks, and the 15 is clean, with the sweet, nutty sherry character you actually want.
That consistency is a bigger deal than it sounds. With a sherried malt you are always taking a small risk, and this bottle is one of the safest.
I should add that the 46% strength is part of the appeal. The 12 at 43% is a little more polite, and the 15 has just enough extra power to carry its sweetness and spice without sliding into syrup. If you have only ever had the 12, the step up in texture is the first thing you will notice.
If you like the idea of the 15, these four are the neighbours I would check:
About £50 and 82 on my page, the best entry to the style.
About £48, drier and more old-fashioned.
About £75 and softer, with the label that costs extra.
About £38, brighter, with sherry and bourbon casks.
GlenDronach 15 Revival is a rich, dark, well-made sherried malt that does not ask you to pay for a brand. It is thick, sweet and spicy, and it finishes with the kind of length that makes the bottle disappear quicker than you intended.
The 12 is better value, and the 15 is better whisky, and I would not argue with anyone who picked either.
Caskable score: 83 out of 100.
Figs, raisins and prunes with treacle, dark chocolate and orange peel.
Full and oily, with dark fruit, chocolate, toffee sweetness and warm spice.
Long and drying, with cocoa, spice and lingering nutty bitterness.
A dark, rich sherried malt that makes the 12 look like a rehearsal.
Thomas Grønvold is the founder of Caskable and a whisky enthusiast who believes the best way to learn about whisky is simply to drink it, compare it, and stay curious. From supermarket favourites to bottles from distilleries around the world, he writes about what he actually tastes and experiences, without pretending you need to be an expert to enjoy a good dram.
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