Glendronach Grandeur Batch 010 27 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Going by blogger's reviews, this looks to be one the best Grandeurs to date. It's the 10th edition in a series of whiskies that change slightly from batch to batch, all landing well above the twenty year mark. Batch 10 is drawn from a mix of Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks at natural strength. With an outturn of 2,293 bottles worldwide, Australia's allocation is pretty slight. (The US received 240 bottles, so probably one quarter of that will be released in Australia).

Other reviews... On the nose: oof, treacle-tastic. Molasses, in fact. Heavy, rich, figs and prunes galore. You know the stuff. And yet, what’s surprising is there’s barely any heavy woodiness, or mustiness; and yes, a slight edge of black truffle, earthy rather than tea-like or woody as one might expect. Once the heavy stuff drifts away, some more elegant notes come through: apricots, cranberries, mince pie filling. Hints of rice pudding, but wholemeal toast and plum jam. In the mouth: that is a gorgeous set of flavours, absolutely monstrous in expression, and yet not at all one-sided. (Balance is why single casks just rarely hit the top marks – they’re not as complex, never forget that, compared to single malts, with more to contribute to style, balance, finesse, flavour.) Velvety, with a much wider spectrum of high and low notes compared to a standard GlenDronach single cask; still with the heavy sherry bass. Slightly nutty – hazelnut with dark chocolate, Turkish Delight, orange marmalade at the high end, Assam tea. Again, no mustiness that one might expect of an aged sherry beast, not even remotely woody. This is absolutely the best after dinner, sitting by the fire, ignoring the family dram you’ll find. Conclusions: Absolutely not for sharing; be utterly selfish. Merry Christmas. 50.1% Alc./Vol. - 10/10 - malt-review.com