Review #538 - GlenDronach 15 Year Revival (Pre-2015)
GlenDronach - a popular Scotch single malt brand, known for its use of sherry casks for maturation. The brand was bought by Billy Walker and his Benriach consortium in 2008, after which its presence in the single malt market grew considerably; then, in 2016, it was sold on to Brown-Forman, and it has continued to grow more popular.
The brand has a large range of age-stated whiskies available; however, from 1996 to 2002, the distillery was mothballed, resulting in a gap in aged stocks. The brand continued to sell their standardized age statements, though, meaning that during specific years, the whisky in the bottle must have been older than the age statement on the label.
We're looking at an older version of the 15 Year Old 'Revival' today; based on the closure year of 1996, the distillery would have run out of actual 15 year old stock around 2011 or so. The new distillate (produced during 2002 and after) would not have aged up to 15 years until at least 2017, meaning that any bottlings of the 15 year version between 2011 and 2016 would actually contain older single malt.
In theory, some of this whisky could have been up to 21 years old if the bottling year was close to 2017; however, it seems that there was a small gap in 15 year batches, with the final batches of old liquid being bottled in 2015. We don't know the exact bottling date of this bottle we tasted, but we can assume the whisky was almost definitely between 16 and 20 years old, despite the younger age statement.
The older batches of the 15 Year Revival also had a slightly different cask makeup - the label states that this whisky was matured exclusively in Spanish Oloroso sherry casks. Modern versions now use both Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry for maturation.
GlenDronach 15 Year Revival (Pre-2015)
Scotland/Highland - Single Malt
Price: USD 155 (2025)
Age Statement: 15 Years
Strength: 46% ABV
Cask Makeup: Oloroso sherry casks
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; bottle 30% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a nosing glass, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Rich dark fruit - raisin, musty grapes, some plum and blackberry. The oak also has a musty character, and the complexion is quite dark. Fruitcake and more rich sherry notes arrive; later, there's a hint of bubblegum.
Palate: There's a decent amount of oak up front - some tannins, a little bit of polish, too. Fruits are strong again, a bit syrupy: plums, raisins, blackberry jam, candied strawberries. The polished oak note grows stronger with air time, and the mouthfeel has a medium thickness.
Finish: The oak takes on a slightly savory dimension; it's warming, and there's a nice mix of sweet and tart fruit. Strawberry, raisin, and orange are the main flavors; the finish is medium-long.
Final Note: Very nice whisky - it does indeed taster older than most other 15 year old single malts that we've tasted. The oak profile, which has a nice perfumed or polished quality to it, is more pronounced that other whiskies of this age; those drying notes are easily balanced by the plethora of red and purple fruit notes from the full-term sherry maturation. Very good whisky, a step above the current 15 Year Revival from GlenDronach.
Prices for these older bottles are higher than the current versions of the same whisky, but they're often available via auction; because of the great taste and quality here, value is still okay, even at the mildly inflated price. For a high quality sherried single malt with some nice age on it, these could be a good splurge.
Our Average Rating: 8.3 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.14
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
Check out our other GlenDronach reviews:
