Whisky : Glendronach 34 Year (1975), Ian Macleod “Dun Bheagan”

Country/Region : Scotland/Highland

ABV : 47.8%

Cask : Hogshead

Age : 34 (Distilled June 1975, Bottled 2009)

Nose : Earth, wood, and honey. Subtle notes of wooden stringed instruments with wood resin, tobacco, glue, and old construction paper. Old oak and honey-drenched biscuits faded to reveal a vegetable garden— clay pots, garden soil, cucumbers, and tomato leaves. 

Palate : Medium-bodied and oily with wood, cereals, and honey notes. Sparkling sweetness on the first sip, almost effervescent, with honey, wood resin, and roasted nuts. Oil paints and turpentine appeared between wood varnish, antique rocking chair, and herbaceous garden hints of tomato leaves, cucumber, and violets.

Finish : Lingering notes of shortbread and vegetable garden.

Score : 8

Mental Image : Symphony in a Vegetable Garden

Notes : Occasionally, there are those drams where I cannot figure out if I love it or hate it. Often they are a bit weird and unusual— much like this with its odd contrast of wood, garden, and art studio. Honey pulled it toward sweetness, turpentine toward woodiness, and tomato leaves toward vegetable— each tugging the palate in a different direction. The first time I tasted this, I jotted down a 3 or an 8 for the score and wondered if I should just split the difference and give it a five. A final pour put me over the edge, and I went with the higher score because as weird and unpleasant as some of the notes sound, it was a riotously good time to sit and taste something this energetic.

The flavor profile freed my mind to wander memories of middle school orchestra (I played the viola because I thought it sounded like a cooler violin at the time) or high school art class.  These were not sweet memories— I was not too fond of orchestra, and that art class pushed me to give up doing much of drawing or painting again— but they were incredibly vivid.  Notes of resin for the viola bow and the warm scent of wooden instruments brought back days of suffering through my lack of talent (and dedication to practicing) with my instrument.

Overall, I found this a strange beast but easily the most fun I had with Glendronach.  I put off tasting this whisky for some time as I did not have high expectations.  Yet it was lively, and while I do not want to sip on something like this at the end of every day, this would be one heck of a bottle to bring out for friends and special occasions.

Happy New Year!

Image Credit: whiskybase