GlenDronach Single Cask 26 Year Old, Pedro Ximénez Sherry Puncheon Cask, Cask #2973, Batch No. 14, 2016, 50.8%

The Pedro Ximénez sherry puncheon is a useful detail, but the flavour picture is not just dried fruit. Fresh oak and spice sit against orange marmalade, plums and dark chocolate on the nose. Dates, prunes and raisins carry the palate, with ginger, black pepper and clove oil giving them a sharper edge. That contrast appeals to me. I tend to favour oak and cocoa alongside dried fruit, and those notes are all here. The finish brings cooked down fruits, citrus and spiced cocoa, with minerality that lingers. It reads as a rich single malt with enough spice and fresh oak to balance the sweeter notes.

Reviewed by busstop_pebble

Nose

crisp, fresh oak, orange marmalade, dark chocolate

Palate

sweet dates, dark prunes, ginger, black pepper

Finish

cooked down fruits, spiced cocoa, lingering minerality