Our January 2015 tasting session offered three new whiskies to sample: Bailie Nicole Jarvie, Paul John Single Malt Edited and GlenDronach 21 Year Parliament.

This session was definitely one where the best was saved til last! As usual, we first sampled blind then revealed the whisky.

GlenDronach 21 year Parliament 48%

• Colour – Dark deep amber, almost ruby in colour
• Nose – Instant sherry, bold, can immediately make out it is a complex and rounded whisky, a delight of berries, black cherry, toffee, banana, just bursting with character and not in the least linear
• Taste – Raisins, plum cake soaked for long time before devouring, dry like rum, as robust as the nose suggested, earthy and rich
• Finish – Plum finish like a dry sherry

For an all-nighter – one of those wonderful whiskies where a little goes a long way!

We also tried a small experiment:

• Our host and partner sampled in Tulip glasses from a bottle previously opened
• Myself and other club member tried in our standard Glencairn glasses

What was the difference?

Well…. We had a bit of debate over which was ‘sharper’ or ‘more mellow’ however it seemed the newly opened bottle was much more pronounced, rounder and more complex whereas the opened one slightly ‘cut’ but still a marvellous malt.

Confession time? Our host sez it is his current favourite! And I will admit to draining the last drop from the opened bottle… sorry folks!

More info:

• Again one of those interesting distilleries, founded in 1826, that was quietly producing, neglected from 1996 to 2001 and then re-opened but only more recently catching attention for their single malts
• Matured only in sherry cask – combination of oloroso and pedro ximinez – making it quite distinct from the typical ‘sherry’ cask finish approach
• Released in 2011 and named ‘Parliament’ for the parliament of rooks that live in the trees near the distillery

In short – not to be missed!

Slainthe!

Since sampling this, there have been more GlenDronach adventures:

• GlenDronach 18 year
• GlenDronach “Allardice” 18 vs “Parliament” 21 year
• GlenDronach Grand Dames – Age Does Matter – 39 – 41 year

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