GlenDronach 21 year old Parliament review

GlenDronach 21 year old Parliament is a single malt matured in a mix of Oloroso and sweet Pedro Ximenez dessert sherry casks. 21 year old whisky from the great Speyside distillery surely sounds promising, even though I’m usually not a fan of sweet sherried whiskies. And yes, GlenDronach is officially in the class of a Highland malt, but located in Forgue valley, Aberdeenshire, which is based on the bounds of Speyside. The way they are making their whiskies, they definitely are a Speyside distillery. GlenDronach is a key ingredient in Teacher’s Highland Cream blended whisky.

Photo by WhiskyIntelligence

GlenDronach (owned by BenRiach) is famous for making good quality sherry cask matured whisky, their 15 year old Revival is stunning. I do like the Revival much more, but Parliament did win a Speyside blind tasting arranged by our local whisky community in Finland. Parliament has an overall score of over 88 points in Whiskybase.

SMOOTH OPERATOR with a sherry finish

21 year old Parliament by GlenDronach is very smooth and I can imagine it being a dream come true for smooth sherry experience seeking whisky enthusiasts. Good dram but not the best one for my taste – I’m always going for the strong, characteristic ones. And even though it sounds funny, smooth whisky can be strong – HP Freya is a good example, and so is 15yo Revival. It was hard to come up with a nice movie reference. Let’s call GlenDronach Parliament the “Smooth Operator”, after the song by Sade, not the erotic movie!

By the way, this GlenDronach gets its name from the rooks holding their “Parliament” in trees nearby the distillery.

Matured in:

Ex-Oloroso and Ex-PX Sherry casks

Colour: Dark amber

Nose: Sweet with wee amounts of smoky peat. Nose brings to mind some kind of plum juice essence, or candy. Sherry is involved too. Drops of water bring oak aromas into the surface.

Taste: Very sweet, feels like caramel attached in the sherry notes. Soft and tangy with peaches. And again, water brings up the oak.

Finish: Nice length with oak dryness and peppery notes. Dark and fruity with some sulphur.

Balance: Thick stuff, as smooth as a whisky can be. Like syrupy juice with sherry influence. Not a sherry monster but surely a great experience for fans of sherry matured whiskies.