GlenDronach Cask Strength Batch 6 review

WhiskyRant’s conclusions

Tasting notes

GlenDronach’s sixth batch of the Cask Strength expression comes with a great 56.1% ABV (alcohol by volume). Bottled with great strength and coming from a distillery with good track record, this GlenDronach sounded tempting when I received a sample from a buddy of mine.

Just like the previous batches, GlenDronach Cask Strength Batch 6 has been matured in Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez Ex-Sherry Casks, and it is non chill filtered. This batch was bottled at natural colour in 2016.

This whisky doesn’t have a fancy backstory. It’s just a combo of two different sherry casks “in the spirit of James Allardice”, the founder of GlenDronach distillery. And to be fair, it doesn’t need any marketing ramblings. Bottled cask strength and matured in an interesting combination is enough. This sherry cask marriage is just that type of progressive experimenting, this industry needs.

The Yin Yang Master

Cask Strength Batch 6 by GlenDronach is apparently a step up from the previous releases. Unfortunately I haven’t tried other batches but based on various reviews (in Whisky Connosr and by Googling around), this 6th release has lifted GlenDronach CS series to a new level. To a level, you could easily expect with this distillery. They’ve done such a great job with their other expressions.

I’m not sure about the sherry cask combination, though. Not a fan of overly sweet sherried whiskies, so in theory, balancing the sweet PX cask influence with Oloroso maturing would be just the right thing to do. But then again, would these two cask types work better apart? Hard to say because this whisky is still good and it’s great that distilleries keep experimenting.

GlenDronach CS Batch 6 is like The Yin Yang Master (Onmyoji, movie made in 2001). Just like the movie, this whisky has some magical qualities.

Tasting Notes

GlenDronach Cask Strength Batch 6 Scoring

Got a sample from my buddy