Glendronac 21 year old

[Agricola]

I tried some of this last night,

grnob_21yo.jpg

A smooth whisky that gives a little punch when I take a sip, sending a blast of alcohol through my nose. It quickly settles into a pleasant drink and the initial blast is not unpleasant at all, in fact I quite like it. The smell of the whisky is a bit off putting as it smells to close to an old sock for my tastes, although if you take a long hard sniff you can detect dried fruits beneath it. The whisky itself has a vague taste of wood/dried fruit with a good finish.

Overall not a bad whisky at all and I wouldn't pass up a dram if offered, however I'd much rather pay the extra for a bottle of Balvenie portwood. Not to say this isn't reasonably priced, it is, but I've been ruined by Balvenie for along time now!

[Agricola]

Sounds like you're picking up sulphur on the nose, unfortunate as it always is. Sounds like you need to add a bit of water to this to knock back the alcohol nip and open it up - unless you did add water?

You're right it was sulphur I was picking up, I drank it with a single Ice cube. I start drinking a while after the ice cube has melted.

[Wardjrz]

Try water instead of ice. Because the ice is cold it will cause the flavours to contract whereas room temperature water release flavours and the bouquet should open up. It will also release some of the fruit flavours underneath the smell you are getting.

At 21 years old it shold be nice and smooth, though Glendronach do use ex Sherry casks and they can overpower lighter spirit sometimes. I haven't tasted this bottling so don't know about it but in general Glendronach is a good quality dram.

That said not all whiskies get better with age, even the best spirit can get past its best if left too long in a cask.

Some like sulphur either on the nose or aftertaste but I really don't.