Bought: Whiskysite, Holland, 16th February 2015
Ratings:
88.5/100 – Whisky Bible 2015
90/100 – Ralfy – His review on You Tube here (April 2011)
I’d heard good things about the Glendronach ‘Revival’ so I was pleased to have a chance to sample it last year. I was in an excellent whisky bar back home in Scotland where I did a taste comparison between:
- Glendronach ‘Revival’ 15yo – best of the night by far!
- Glen Grant 10yo – a bit rough and young
- Highland Park G&M 2005 Cask Strength – like the Glen Grant
- Macallan Speymalt G&M 2005 – mellow, youthful and OK
(G&M = Gordon & MacPhail)
You might think that putting a 15yo up against whiskies 10yo or less was a bit unfair until you consider that the Whisky Bible scores the Glen Grant 10yo 96/100, 7.5 points ahead of the Glendronach. As a big fan of Highland Park and Macallan, I was disappointed with those two but, in isolation I’m sure they would have tasted OK. Unfortunately, the Glendronach was so good, everything thereafter had a lot to prove.
The Whisky Bible has only this to say about the ‘Revival’ – “unambiguously Scottish. A fantastically malty dram.” And 88.5/100 puts it in the category of “very good to excellent whisky definitely worth buying”. I’d agree with that!