We all know the story by now. Your old Glendronach 18 has whisky in it considerably older than 18 years. In fact, the minimum age is several years older and it was top dressed with stuff even older than that. A Glendronach anomaly when Billy Walker took over. He was lucky, or wise, to be the recipient of some very old stock courtesy of the Whisky Loch. I had one of those old 18's and it was a very fine sherry bomb with no distillery character whatsoever. The latest version might, just might, give some hint of it because you can bet your bottom dollar that it is 18 years old and not a day older and I will be more than happy for the distillery to contradict me and reveal the recipe. Let's not forget either, that the sherry casks in those older expressions would have been far superior. They may have actually contained sherry for drinking as apposed to some seasoned staves for export to the whisky industry. When we compare these two expressions we're not really comparing like for like as you correctly observe. That doesn't mean the new version is poor but it's an indication of how whisky is made these days. By the way, it is non chill-filtered. Excellent review Phil and I completely agree with what you say. My one reservation about a purchase of the new 18 is how much more expensive it is to the 15. It's almost twice the price and that has always been an issue with Glendronach going back to the Billy Walker days (when the price gap was slimmer). Talking of those good old days, I have to give an enormous shout out to how great Benriach was in the Billy Walker era. That's just gone down the bin now. Billy Walker's timing was perfect and he invested in some fantastic whisky but I have to admit that my heart sank when I saw the who the new owners were. I'm really hoping I'm wrong. Cheers. WT
The prices are getting silly. But the waiting for this new expression was so intense on some customers that the shops are already out of stock at £115+ a bottle. Madness. Still a perfectly good 18YO, but going the way of everyone else.
Thanks Phil, very interesting. On the topic of non-chill-filtered and GlenDronach, there's an excellent article on the Dramface website which I won't link here because the last two times I've linked stuff on yt comments--one on this channel, relating to the fact that Arran Sherry Cask is 7yo on Arran's website not 9yo as their Quarter Cask is--my comment posts got deleted, so perhaps external links are not allowed? Anyway, the Dramface article is very worthwhile reading. In short, Dramface are saying ncf is not black-and-white, that there are more shades of grey than we may at first realise. Rachel Barrie said nothing had changed in their processes. One thing that did change was GD joining the SWA under Brown-Forman, and their lawyers then raising the question whether they should continue to use ncf on their labels. None of those shades of grey were adequately addressed by GD publicity/statements about their labelling. On the topic of comparing old/new GD18, one can't help feeling it was a pity you weren't able to perform a double-blind comparison, similar to wine show judging. I'm sure you endeavoured to be fair/neutral, and I'm not saying you weren't, but you still knew which glass held which whisky and so may have been unconsciously influenced. I have a 2017 GD18 which shows wonderful rancio characters (the effects of age and gentle oxidation upon wine, often fortified), fruit cake, brandy snaps, pickled walnuts, prunes, date-like red bean sauce, but also (pleasing) "sour" notes including shellac and spiritousness. Rancio is often somewhat "sour". Also carob, milk chocolate, almond icing, butter caramel, cedary pencil shavings but not graphite, and tinned peaches. It continued to evolve in the glass over the course of >2 hours. 14 months ago GD18 could (just) be got for NZ$180 (108 euros). This year it's often been NZ$260 (156 euros), so an increase across about 8-10 months of nearly 45%. Yes, there's inflation and an increase in duty on alcohol, but those were only minor components in the price hike. GD21 went from ~220 to 360 over the same time, so >60% increase.
Alex who lent me the bottles did gove them to me blind in the shop we work, my verdict was the same as in the video. Would have loved to do it as a video but was unsure how long it would've taken to edit and cut.
Fair comparison. (Edit just saw the comment below) Dramface Glendronach 12 article - Glendronach have said the filtration processes have not changed since Brown Forman took over. Under Billy Walker they were not affiliated with the SWA. BF are a SWA member and suspected the methods used for filtration were non-compliant. That is why the label has changed. Obviously there may be other reasons for the changes between new and old 18s...
Nice comparison. Mine is the 2019 edition. I glad you did a head to head as I've often wondered if there was major differences between Billy's and Rachel's versions. Now i know. Thank you.
I've had a couple of versions of Billy's 18 yr and did try the new 18 yr. I agree with your notes and enjoy them both. I'm lucky to have a 2019 bottling which makes it a 24 yr, according to the chart? Great review.
Hi Phil…good vid! Just curious…on a comparison such as this wouldn’t it be best to use the same glassware? I frequently notice how the same dram poured in different style nosing glasses can alter the nuances and or up or downplay certain notes
It may just be a perception thing or subliminal but my take on Glendronach now that they are at least not stating the whisky is no longer naturally presented has turned me off. Im lucky enough to have old bottles (4) of the 8 YO which I really enjoy, an older bottle of the 10 YO port cask. After these are gone I think that may be it for my Glendronach purchases. Great comparison video to by the way! Well done. 🥃👍
I can fully understand this, GD joining the SWA has caused more confusion that it has clarity. Luckily, there are plenty of other excellent sherry cask whiskies available...and for a little less.
I use to adore the Glendronach Allardice 18, it was so engaging and approachable. I've no doubt the new bottling is still good, but and this is where the rubber hits the road, its not $230 good when the Billy bottles were $150-160. I still have two 2018 bottlings which will be saved for a day when I deserve a treat
Great stuff, I have one bottled Nov 2016, which would be 20 years 9 months, by my research. Supposedly, the last barrel was filled Feb 1996 before reopening in 2002, but who really knows.
Hi Phil, good comparison video, enjoyed it 👍. Still got a closed 2018 bottling in my cellar. The 18 is now out of my price range ☹️. Also a closed Glendronach 15 from 2015 is in my cellar . Both to be opened someday. Slàinte Phil
I just noticed it in my local Total Wine store today (for $219). That's the first I've seen it anywhere. I had to buy it and try it. It's very good, but nearly identical (to me) to the Arran 18 year offering, which is much less expensive.
Haven’t tried the new versions. Had a 2016 bottling and have also another 2016 and a newer 2019. Sadly I picked that 2019 thinking it might still be a Billy Walker version (online purchase) and I picked it over the 21 which at the time wasn’t much more than the 18. Yeah don’t look now it’s over $300 . Anyhow I still have that older version alongside a few of the older revival 15s from 2012-2015. But that 21… sigh. Out of my league now. Get what you can when you can folks. The prices are not coming back down.
I was never a fan. Never understood the px finishing on such an old whisky. Covering too much dryness, maybe? It certainly isn't worth $300 a bottle. Buy AnCnoc 18 or 22 for half the price.
Tough to put down to a "science", as an older oxygenated bottle of even the same batch/cask will taste different anyway, but suppose the prominent notes that differ will show between the releases 🥂. Its a shame distilleries core range whisky is unfortunately slowly edging down in quality as it gains popularity, as we all know people will buy 80s and 90s bottlings of what was at the time even just over the counter blends with no complaints to the elevated current day price tag.
We all know the story by now. Your old Glendronach 18 has whisky in it considerably older than 18 years. In fact, the minimum age is several years older and it was top dressed with stuff even older than that. A Glendronach anomaly when Billy Walker took over. He was lucky, or wise, to be the recipient of some very old stock courtesy of the Whisky Loch. I had one of those old 18's and it was a very fine sherry bomb with no distillery character whatsoever. The latest version might, just might, give some hint of it because you can bet your bottom dollar that it is 18 years old and not a day older and I will be more than happy for the distillery to contradict me and reveal the recipe. Let's not forget either, that the sherry casks in those older expressions would have been far superior. They may have actually contained sherry for drinking as apposed to some seasoned staves for export to the whisky industry. When we compare these two expressions we're not really comparing like for like as you correctly observe. That doesn't mean the new version is poor but it's an indication of how whisky is made these days. By the way, it is non chill-filtered.
Excellent review Phil and I completely agree with what you say. My one reservation about a purchase of the new 18 is how much more expensive it is to the 15. It's almost twice the price and that has always been an issue with Glendronach going back to the Billy Walker days (when the price gap was slimmer). Talking of those good old days, I have to give an enormous shout out to how great Benriach was in the Billy Walker era. That's just gone down the bin now. Billy Walker's timing was perfect and he invested in some fantastic whisky but I have to admit that my heart sank when I saw the who the new owners were. I'm really hoping I'm wrong. Cheers. WT
The prices are getting silly. But the waiting for this new expression was so intense on some customers that the shops are already out of stock at £115+ a bottle. Madness. Still a perfectly good 18YO, but going the way of everyone else.
Thanks Phil, very interesting.
On the topic of non-chill-filtered and GlenDronach, there's an excellent article on the Dramface website which I won't link here because the last two times I've linked stuff on yt comments--one on this channel, relating to the fact that Arran Sherry Cask is 7yo on Arran's website not 9yo as their Quarter Cask is--my comment posts got deleted, so perhaps external links are not allowed? Anyway, the Dramface article is very worthwhile reading. In short, Dramface are saying ncf is not black-and-white, that there are more shades of grey than we may at first realise. Rachel Barrie said nothing had changed in their processes. One thing that did change was GD joining the SWA under Brown-Forman, and their lawyers then raising the question whether they should continue to use ncf on their labels. None of those shades of grey were adequately addressed by GD publicity/statements about their labelling.
On the topic of comparing old/new GD18, one can't help feeling it was a pity you weren't able to perform a double-blind comparison, similar to wine show judging. I'm sure you endeavoured to be fair/neutral, and I'm not saying you weren't, but you still knew which glass held which whisky and so may have been unconsciously influenced.
I have a 2017 GD18 which shows wonderful rancio characters (the effects of age and gentle oxidation upon wine, often fortified), fruit cake, brandy snaps, pickled walnuts, prunes, date-like red bean sauce, but also (pleasing) "sour" notes including shellac and spiritousness. Rancio is often somewhat "sour". Also carob, milk chocolate, almond icing, butter caramel, cedary pencil shavings but not graphite, and tinned peaches. It continued to evolve in the glass over the course of >2 hours.
14 months ago GD18 could (just) be got for NZ$180 (108 euros). This year it's often been NZ$260 (156 euros), so an increase across about 8-10 months of nearly 45%. Yes, there's inflation and an increase in duty on alcohol, but those were only minor components in the price hike. GD21 went from ~220 to 360 over the same time, so >60% increase.
Masterfully written comment. Feel free to link the article, I don't delete anything apart from obvious spam.
Alex who lent me the bottles did gove them to me blind in the shop we work, my verdict was the same as in the video. Would have loved to do it as a video but was unsure how long it would've taken to edit and cut.
Fair comparison. (Edit just saw the comment below) Dramface Glendronach 12 article - Glendronach have said the filtration processes have not changed since Brown Forman took over. Under Billy Walker they were not affiliated with the SWA. BF are a SWA member and suspected the methods used for filtration were non-compliant. That is why the label has changed.
Obviously there may be other reasons for the changes between new and old 18s...
Recommend that anyone who reads this comment also reads that Dramface article. Very insightful.
Nice comparison. Mine is the 2019 edition. I glad you did a head to head as I've often wondered if there was major differences between Billy's and Rachel's versions. Now i know. Thank you.
Been waiting so long to!
Great walk through. Love the texture and darker notes of the old Glendronach. That said, I enjoy the Glendronach of today too. Thanks for sharing!
Me too!
I've had a couple of versions of Billy's 18 yr and did try the new 18 yr. I agree with your notes and enjoy them both. I'm lucky to have a 2019 bottling which makes it a 24 yr, according to the chart? Great review.
Need to find a chart which tells me the relative ages of those older bottles.
Hi Phil…good vid!
Just curious…on a comparison such as this wouldn’t it be best to use the same glassware?
I frequently notice how the same dram poured in different style nosing glasses can alter the nuances and or up or downplay certain notes
That was my intention, but I was an idiot and forgot to get the same glassware. That's all on me.
It may just be a perception thing or subliminal but my take on Glendronach now that they are at least not stating the whisky is no longer naturally presented has turned me off. Im lucky enough to have old bottles (4) of the 8 YO which I really enjoy, an older bottle of the 10 YO port cask.
After these are gone I think that may be it for my Glendronach purchases.
Great comparison video to by the way! Well done. 🥃👍
I can fully understand this, GD joining the SWA has caused more confusion that it has clarity. Luckily, there are plenty of other excellent sherry cask whiskies available...and for a little less.
I use to adore the Glendronach Allardice 18, it was so engaging and approachable. I've no doubt the new bottling is still good, but and this is where the rubber hits the road, its not $230 good when the Billy bottles were $150-160. I still have two 2018 bottlings which will be saved for a day when I deserve a treat
Treats indeed. Especially when compared to current single cask bottles.
Great stuff, I have one bottled Nov 2016, which would be 20 years 9 months, by my research. Supposedly, the last barrel was filled Feb 1996 before reopening in 2002, but who really knows.
Good knowledge! Yeah, I've seen so many different graphs with different results.
Great review, I tasted recent release cask strength which I felt little older than previous release
Awaiting a bottle split of this. Last years was wonderful.
Hi Phil, good comparison video, enjoyed it 👍. Still got a closed 2018 bottling in my cellar. The 18 is now out of my price range ☹️. Also a closed Glendronach 15 from 2015 is in my cellar . Both to be opened someday. Slàinte Phil
Enjoy them both!
I just noticed it in my local Total Wine store today (for $219). That's the first I've seen it anywhere. I had to buy it and try it. It's very good, but nearly identical (to me) to the Arran 18 year offering, which is much less expensive.
The price just went crazy in the UK, too. A real shame
A great comparison video!!!
Thank you Cliff.
Haven’t tried the new versions. Had a 2016 bottling and have also another 2016 and a newer 2019. Sadly I picked that 2019 thinking it might still be a Billy Walker version (online purchase) and I picked it over the 21 which at the time wasn’t much more than the 18. Yeah don’t look now it’s over $300 . Anyhow I still have that older version alongside a few of the older revival 15s from 2012-2015. But that 21… sigh. Out of my league now. Get what you can when you can folks. The prices are not coming back down.
has anyone tried the 21? i can't get the 18 anywhere, but my local store has in the 21 for about $300. worth it?
I was never a fan. Never understood the px finishing on such an old whisky. Covering too much dryness, maybe? It certainly isn't worth $300 a bottle. Buy AnCnoc 18 or 22 for half the price.
Interesting comparison, good commentary.
Thank you!
Tough to put down to a "science", as an older oxygenated bottle of even the same batch/cask will taste different anyway, but suppose the prominent notes that differ will show between the releases 🥂. Its a shame distilleries core range whisky is unfortunately slowly edging down in quality as it gains popularity, as we all know people will buy 80s and 90s bottlings of what was at the time even just over the counter blends with no complaints to the elevated current day price tag.
Would give the new one a try if it didn't cost 170 Euro
At that rate of £145 after currency exchange, it's probably still the best deal for it.