GlenDronach – ‘The Hielan’ – 8yo – 46% abv

Info: Matured and married in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks. Non chill fi ltered, natural colour and bottled at 46%.
Colour: Light to medium straw, nice and natural.
Nose: Plenty of fragrant malt, hints of oak, bourbon character at first giving way to the more fruity sherry – a fairly light summer sherry. A nice clean sweet nose.
Palate: Medium to thick, oily and sweet. There’s more spice than I was expecting to find. It gives way to fruity flavours of summer berries, and plenty of malty goodies. There’s a fiery chariness to it at the back.
Finish: The finish diminishes fairly quickly but then lingers with spicy sweet fruits and hints of oak tannin. The slight chariness from the palate doesn’t seem to reappear.
Thoughts: In the days of rising prices and increase of no age statement whiskies then this appears to be a bit of a bargain; a properly crafted whisky, and although slightly younger than you may often look at it’s plenty drinkable and more than interesting. Good show.
Extra: GlenDronach is often known for it’s sherried drams…. this one has sherry in it, but not as much as you may expect, it’s a bit of a GlenDronach Light on the sherry front, which is no bad thing as it makes a nice additional whisky to the range.
Available: The Whisky Exchange – £32.45

Thanks to GlenDronach for the sample.