Welcome back to another entry in my journey of whisky, in particular, Scotch single malts, where I taste two unique expressions side-by-side, take down some notes on how they compare to each other, pick out a favourite, and hopefully learn something new in the process. I think it’s unlikely that you’ve landed on this page by accident since the two drams I’m sipping today will not dominate the top search results on Google. But I’m writing this anyway, even though, for this particular entry, it’s more of a retrospective instead of a live-tasting session [as I usually do]. I suppose it’s more for my own archives – something that I can revisit a few years from now to see how things changed. Enough random blabber – let’s get right to it, but first, we need music! Now Playing: Taylor Deupree – Eev.

I just returned from Scotland (with an 8-bottle haul) and wanted to make some room on my shelves. I found that the Glendronach 21-year-old was nearly finished (okay, it looked like there was about 200ml in the bottle left), so I siphoned off 100ml into my archive library, poured a 50ml dram in my Glencairn, and topped off the rest (about 50ml) into my infinity bottle. Yes, this is how I perform bottlekill. I have covered this Highland distillery many times on this site and even compared this particular expression to others (see it paired with Glenallachie, Glengoyne, and Balvenie), so I’ll spare you the overview of this bottle. I will, however, make an important note about this particular edition from 2020. It appears that, as of 2021, Glendronach’s owners, Brown-Forman, have decided to remove the verbiage from the label, indicating that this single malt is non-chill filtered. This just means that from now on, there is a huge chance that it will be filtered, diluted further down to a lower ABV, and generally reduced in quality to increase their profits. It’s a sad day for all of the fans of this particular sherried single malt, but I suppose we knew that this time was coming. It was simply too good for the price point, and the ending has come. There’s a great discussion on this topic by Ralfy, in his review 872, from April 2021, and you can go down the rabbit hole of the responses from the distillery from there. I suppose I will cherish my 100ml stash sample – perhaps that would be a great article to compare the 2020 version to the latest chill-filtered edition! But for now, I will enjoy the last few drops left at the bottom of this wonderful bottle as I bid it adieu.

I compare Glendronach with another single malt I have been sitting on for a while. It is “An Undisclosed Speyside Distillery” bottled by Berry Bros & Rudd. My previous “educated guess” concluded that it could have been Glenrothes, but honestly, it’s anybody’s guess, as it has a unique profile, unlike anything I’ve tried before. It’s a 21-year-old uncoloured and un-chill filtered single-cask whisky [cask no. 26], bottled at a beautiful 58.4% ABV in 2017 [a 1995 distillation]. This is a sherried single malt, and it’s nearly light brown in colour, with plenty of waxiness and rich dried plums on the nose. It’s viscous and rich, reminding me a lot of an old-style Scotch that I always enjoy. It’s got that resinous, spicy, and dark chocolate palate, and it sometimes tastes as if someone just dipped some tobacco directly into my glass. I got this bottle in Edinborough in 2021 – it was exclusive to The Whisky Trail shop on The Royal Mile [the same one I visited last week to have them ship a bunch more bottles to my house!]. This must have been a very old cask (why was it numbered only “26”?), and I honestly can’t find this bottle anywhere. The closest match is this image I’ve embedded here – even the colour is a bit close as if this was aged for two more years (different cask, but still from 1995 – also an exclusive for another shop). I wasn’t sure if I liked this particular Scotch the first time I tried it, but with time, my experience, and the change in my palate, I’ve learned to appreciate the subtle intricacies of this well-preserved and beautiful whisky.

Distillery / Region	Glendronach / Highland	Undisclosed / Speyside
Bottler / Series	Distillery bottling / core range	Berry Bros. & Rudd
Stated Age / Vintage	21 years old (bottled in 2020)	21 years old / 1995 vintage
Cask type	Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso Sherry	Oloroso Sherry
ABV / Cask Strength	48.0% / No	58.4% / Yes!
Non-chill filtered/ Uncoloured	Yes / Yes 🌟 (but not after 2020)	Yes / Yes 🌟
Did it win? / Did I like it?	Yes / Yes – constantly evolving flavours	Yes / Yes – such a unique flavour profile
Would I buy it? / Recommend it?	Yes but earlier releases / Yes	Yes / Yes, but you won’t find this one again

So there you have it, folks, another fantastic pairing of two single malts. They’re very different, and I’ve enjoyed them both. I’m slightly sad that the Glendronach will go down in quality from now, and, as a result, I almost want to ding the distillery for that. But in all honesty, I have enjoyed this whisky for a few years now! And even though the Undisclosed is also a fantastic single malt, I started to get a bit tired of the secrets in the industry. For that, I want to ding it too. So with that said, I’ll pause here and proclaim a draw. Perhaps I will return to these again in the near future.