2021 Holiday Shopping Lists, the Single Malts: GlenDronach 12 Non-Chill Filtered

When I kicked off my year end recommendations list back on November 30, I purposefully led off with Angels Envy Finished Rye because it’s one of a handful of bottles that taste like distilled Christmas. Today’s bottle is another one of those holiday flavor extracts, and thus a fitting bookend.

GlenDronach is often mentioned in the same breath as Aberlour as the premier producers of “sherry bomb” whiskies, and rightfully so. I find the 12 especially to posses a verve and cinnamon-spice liveliness that tends to be smoothed out somewhat in the older age statement bottlings, and actually rate the 12 as one of my favorite GlenDronach expressions. It’s basically a bottled Christmas spice coffee cake accepted by cinnamon, raisins, and ultra-concentrated strawberry preserves. Combine this with a comfy chair and you’re halfway to reenacting Nick Offerman’s Yule Log video.

The astute reader might have already guessed the other point I have to make: the unclear status of the Non-Chill vs. Chill Filtering in GlenDronach’s production. In an era of distilleries increasingly abandoning Chill Filtering, the intergalactic brain geniuses running Brown-Forman has conspicuously removed all mentions of Non-Chill Filtering from GlenDronach’s labeling, and then issued a series of increasingly nonsensical corporate speak answers when asked about this. I think the punchline is we might be on the precipice of a decline in GlenDronach’s once-and-current bulletproof drinking experience, so get it while the gettin’ is good.

For years I’ve used Aberlour 12 and GlenDronach 12 as my “welcome to single malt” bottles, and I think (at least for this December) this is a stunning bottle to use as a gift. Even better that it’s bursting with seasonally-appropriate flavors. GlenDronach 12 retails for about $65-$70 USD in my area, and is rock solid in that price point.

Image courtesy of Jon who also writes on Low Class & High Proof.

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