GlenDronach Single Cask 1996 18 años Single Malt Whisky

GlenDronach's sherried whiskies have always maintained a devoted following. But what happens when one of the brand's best-selling expressions suddenly disappears? In autumn 2015, GlenDronach announced the discontinuation of its iconic Revival 15 Year Old.\n\nConsumers were unaware of the underlying cause: the cessation was due to depleted stocks of the distillery's original spirit specifically earmarked for GlenDronach 15 Year Old production. The distillery's previous owner, Allied Domecq, had shuttered operations in 1996, with production only resuming in 2002. Consequently, when Revival launched in 2009, its stated age of 15 years was accurate. However, by its final discontinuation in 2015, the whisky was effectively 20-21 years old, yet still sold at 15-year-old pricing.\n\nRevival returned to the core range in October 2018 with a reformulated profile, now incorporating original spirits matured in both Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez (PX) sherry casks.\n\nDistillery specifications include a 3.7-ton cast iron mash tun; nine larch wood washbacks with 60-90 hour fermentation periods; and two copper pot stills. The 2019 production target was 1.2 million liters of new make spirit.\n\nWhile GlenDronach is gradually expanding its peated whisky output (38ppm phenol content), no peated spirit was produced during 2018-2019.\n\nCore expressions comprise Hielan 8 Year Old, Original 12 Year Old, Revival 15 Year Old, Allardice 18 Year Old, Parliament 21 Year Old, and the peated variant (first introduced in 2015). The peated whisky is crafted from a blend of Oloroso and PX sherry cask-matured spirits, both initially matured in bourbon casks prior to sherry cask finishing.\n\nRecent limited releases include Batch 7 Cask Strength, Grandeur 27 Year Old, Peated Port Cask, Master Vintage 1993 (a blend of Oloroso and PX sherry cask stocks), and GlenDronach Port Cask. The Port Cask expression, launched summer 2019, undergoes primary maturation in sherry casks followed by finishing in port pipes.\n\nThe 17th installment of the Cask Bottlings single cask series debuted in July 2019.\n\nGlenDronach's inaugural travel retail exclusives launched with Forgue 10 Year Old (autumn 2018), followed by Boynsmill 16 Year Old (May 2019). Boynsmill 16 Year Old receives a port pipe finish to complement its sherry character.