A Review. And a Feature on Communication Breakdown…

It’s not always black and white in whisky. It can be grey, which won’t be music to a lot of ears.

I was going to go on a bit of a rant here, Dramfacers, and get into a ‘controversial’ topic concerning a credible single malt Scotch whisky. But, bear with me, today I’ll be shining a light on The GlenDronach 12 Year Old: on how the whisky holds up, and on the news around the ‘non-chill-filtered’ label being removed from the bottle packaging. We’ll look at the brand reputation which the Glendronach core range built up in the whisky scene when Billy Walker took charge, how the recent labelling changes could potentially damage it, and, ultimately, what the label removal says to us: the whisky consumers, drinkers, and enthusiasts. There’s a bonus as well: I reached out to someone in a senior position at Brown-Forman, who provided me with much-needed insight.

I think you’ll find this an interesting read.

Glendronach has, in recent years, been increasingly recognised for the exceptional quality and value of its single malts. Its history has seen the distillery burn down and founder James Allardice declare bankruptcy, followed by a scattering of ownerships before the brand’s current stewardship under the Brown-Forman Corporation.

Before it rose to prominence as a Scottish single malt, Glendronach was used as a major component in the Teacher’s blend (Glendronach was purchased by William Teacher & Sons in 1960). The distillery next became part of Allied Distillers, but then closed from 1996 to 2002. It was acquired by Chivas Brothers (part of the Pernod Ricard group) in 2005, and in 2008 was purchased by The BenRiach Distillery Co.

With the distillery having reopened in 2002 after being mothballed for six years, the now well-known Glendronach core range enters the market: a 12-year-old, a 15-year-old (Revival), an 18-year-old (Allardice) and a 21-year-old (Parliament). This is the first instance in the distillery’s history where we see its product being marketed as a serious single malt scotch whisky rather than a component for a blend. Apparently, Billy Walker wanted to revive the age statements used by Teacher’s since the 1960s and turn Glendronach into a solely single malt whisky producer.

It was also no secret that the age-statement bottlings often contained some stock considerably older than the number of years on the bottle.

As the core releases began to appear on shelves, Glendronach steadily became a dram to pay attention to. There was no large marketing campaign behind the brand, no song and dance, but the high-quality spirit very quickly took off. It was also no secret that the age-statement bottlings often contained some stock considerably older than the number of years on the bottle. By pulling together casks of 15-year-old spirit, for example, and then vatting these with whiskies that were 16, 17, even 18 years old, Glendronach could amplify and elevate the calibre of the bottled liquid. Expectations were met and exceeded more than anyone could have imagined.

With that backdrop, I want to move on to what it is we expect as whisky drinkers and enthusiasts – or where I assume our expectations lie. What do we demand from an expression as the minimum standard? I am speaking for the masses here with my next ramblings, so I apologise if you don’t personally think the same way about how whisk(e)y should be presented. We all have different likes and preferences.

Now, in my career (not giving too much away about Hamish’s daily activities), I often ask my clients and customers: “If you were to wave a magic wand right now, what would you want delivered? What would deliver value and make you happy?” I ask this now, as a whisky drinker, of you and the wider enthusiast group. ‘Value’ is the word of 2022 when it comes to our whisky purchasing. What a lot of us expect from our precious brown liquid, for our hard-earned money – let’s wave that magic wand – is:

• 1. Non-chill-filtered

• 2. Natural colour

• 3. A minimum of 46% ABV in bottling strength

That natural presentation tells us a lot. We’re getting as natural a whisky as possible (without it being at cask strength or a single cask bottling).

Now I know that no chill filtration and 46% ABV isn’t the be-all and end-all in whisky. There are expressions out there that don’t meet these presentation standards but still deliver a great experience when tasting.

Nevertheless, the presentation of a whisky surely gives us an insight into the attitude and mindset of a producer when bottling an expression (be it a special release or a core range product). The distiller and blender are saying to us, “This is the best product we can deliver. This is our spirit, and we are proud.” With more and more new distilleries releasing inaugural bottlings and beginning to distribute their core range, we are seeing these three requirements met from almost all of them. They aren’t produced for blends: they are setting up their stall and proudly displaying their liquid in as natural a form as they can.

So, in 2021, reports and articles circulated among the whisky masses decrying the removal of the ‘non-chill-filtered’ label from the packaging of The GlenDronach 12 Year Old. From YouTube videos to blog articles, the whisky fabric was up in arms at the thought of this great liquid being forcefully filtered through a large piece of machinery to remove essential fats and long-chain esters, ostensibly to improve the aesthetic of the liquid when exposed to either cold temperatures or a few drops of water. This was something often associated with budget malts and mass-market blends full of E150a colouring and an ABV of 40%, after all. Many, including myself, reached out to Glendronach directly for some clarification on this step, and we were told that the reason was “to give us the flexibility to optimise consistently exceptional quality, flavour, clarity, and stability”.

Many a guffaw was heard in response, I’m sure. I don’t think said response helped Glendronach’s image amongst its supporters and single malt drinkers overall. Many of us are clued into the process of chill-filtration, and the thought of it being added to the whisky-making process now seemed baffling and confusing. What would happen to the quality of the liquid? We worried we were soon going to see something akin to a mass-market product, as common our supermarket shelves, from Glendronach.

So what if I were to tell you that the chill-filtering process I’m talking about could potentially be a little ‘grey’? That it’s not as cut-and-dried, or as black and white, as we may think?

as the saying goes, every day is a school day.

I was very lucky to be able to get into direct contact with someone senior at Brown-Forman so that they could answer some of my questions around this topic while also clarifying this supposedly new step in their whisky making process.

Entering the discussion, I couldn’t help but focus on my preconceptions about what this new chill-filtration process entailed. My pre-emptive questions were about why the decision had been made to filter the liquid, who had made that decision, what Brown-Forman was trying to achieve by incorporating such a drastic step, how much it even cost to run one of these machines, and what the impact on the liquid itself would be – a liquid that had built its reputation on natural presentation and incredible taste.

But as the saying goes, every day is a school day. We started off by talking all about the message about the new packaging which the Glendronach PR team had sent to enquiring minds, and how that could perhaps have been handled better. Then, we discussed how the decision to remove the label had been taken. In short, Brown-Forman, having acquired The BenRiach Distillery Co, scrutinised the whisky making processes at Glendronach, asking: “Are we compliant (with SWA guidelines) or not?”

It’s here that the issue of chill-filtration becomes a bit ‘muddy’. Glendronach was felt not to be complying with the assessment and guidelines of the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA): it was therefore deemed necessary to remove ‘not-chill-filtered’ from their packaging label.

Under Billy Walker, Glendronach was not a member of the SWA, but it joined after the takeover by Brown-Forman was completed in early 2017. I assumed that all distilleries in Scotland were a part of the SWA automatically, but that isn’t the case. Glendronach’s reason for joining was to secure added backing from the Association – which is understandable. And again, the removal of the ‘non-chill-filtered’ label was intended to mitigate any legal proceedings that the SWA could have begun with the distillery if its filtering methods were deemed to fall under the classification of ‘chill-filtered’.

Glendronach distillery does incorporate a level of filtration. When the casks are vatted and brought together – either under Dr. Rachel Barrie or, previously, Billy Walker – every batch is going to contain some level of flocculation and, indeed, of turbidity. That vatted liquid is then sent down to the bottling line for further inspection by the quality control team, where it is then compared to a base sample of the 12 Year Old. (I’m using the 12-year-old expression as my example for this piece, although the same process is carried out by the team regardless of expression.) If the newly vatted liquid is deemed to have a ‘higher’ level of turbidity than the base sample, it is subjected to filtration.

I was additionally given insight into some of the processes involved when deciding to carry out some (if any) filtering. The production team operate a 1 to 5 scale flocculation level when comparing with the pre-bottled liquid. They are satisfied with liquid falling at the lower end of the scale (a 1 or a 2); this is within their parameters of acceptability. If a level of 4 or 5 is determined, however, the liquid is assessed on whether it needs to go through one, five or nine sheets of filter at varying set temperatures in order to bring its flocculation down to an acceptable level.

Glendronach has also incorporated a randomly selected team to blind taste samples on occasion. This team is ever-changing and can involve anyone from the production team, members of the bottling line, and gift shop workers. This means there is an additional level of quality control incorporated in the process – a bit more due diligence to ensure the liquid remains as it should.

Certain definitions in whisky making and what’s on a label might not be 100% accurate. Indeed, a term’s absence might not be all that it seems. Not every producer will be able to have a chat with enquiring minds on what exactly their distilling process entails, but that’s what Dramface is for. Those in the industry can don an alias and let us know exactly what is going on, enhancing our whisky knowledge even further. Or we’ll do our job as reviewers and get the news straight from the horse’s mouth. I had a very informal chat on the topic, and I had a lot of fun speaking with my contact from Brown-Forman. Not once did I feel I was being fed the typical corporate PR fluff which aims to save face and proceed with ambiguity.

Not every producer will be able to have a chat with enquiring minds on what exactly their distilling process entails, but that’s what Dramface is for.

All whisky is filtered to a certain extent, with barrier-filtered whiskies often making their way into cask-strength bottlings. Not all chill-filtered whiskies are subject to the huge industrial and forceful filtration technique we associate with the blends and mass-market malts we all know. The definition of chill-filtration, in my opinion, potentially needs to be re-assessed as our knowledge of whisky grows and the whisky-making process is refined and altered as time goes on.

It's business as usual for Glendronach. Meanwhile, we all assumed the liquid in the bottle would change dramatically and that an additional step had been introduced into the distillery’s whisky-making process. It’s a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy: we all thought the removal of the text on the packaging was due to an increase in sales and production and a move into new markets. A level of conjecture was undertaken by some who chose to cover the topic – even by myself – before we were able to get into a discussion about this grey area. That mindset I spoke of earlier in this piece has changed.

The reason any filtration is even a part of Glendronach’s process is so the liquid doesn’t encounter any problems or issues in terms of how it’s perceived quality-wise when it reaches its destinations around the world. The liquid can be subject to cold as well as high temperatures in transportation and final storage locations, which can impact its aesthetic. That’s the distillery’s decision – and no one had a problem with the liquid’s quality before precautionary measures were taken regarding what was stated on the packaging.

Now it’s over to Dougie and Wally, who will be providing tasting notes and a score on this liquid. Both Dramfacers have a sample of the liquid from a ‘non-chill-filtered’ bottle as well as a sample from a newer bottle where this statement has been removed. They will provide insight on how they feel the whiskies compare – backing up my discovery that the filtration process was in place even when we first fell in love with the core range as we know it today.

For what it’s worth, this is a 7/10 for me. HF

Review

Dougie’s Notes

Glendronach 12yo, 2021 sample, 43% ABV
£45-ish and available everywhere

Nose

Custard cream. Similar in flavour to the 2018 tonight. Match striker quite prominent.

Palate

A bit less rich than the 2018. Same cherry sauce drizzle foundation. Match striker note coming through on the palate. Battenberg cake. Very slight Wendy house note at the death.

Score: 5/10 DC

Glendronach 12yo, 2018 sample, 43% ABV
Secondary market only

Thanks to Hamish for the sample.

Nose

Bakewell tart. Marzipan/almonds. Icing sugar. Hairspray. Leafy spinach note.

Palate

Cherry toffee. Cherry sauce drizzle on ice cream-van ice cream. Creamy vanilla jam, like clotted cream and jam on a scone. Grapey, more spice – a little more tingle on the tongue. Vague nuttiness, and cinnamon-dusted raisins.

Score: 6/10 DC

The Dregs (Dougie)

Typically in whisky sample-swapping circles, a single 30ml bottle is sent for the receiver to try the whisky. It’s what would amount to one dram, if you were a little more generous than the industry-standard 25ml pour. You could spread it out to two drams, of course, but for me it’s a one-time deal – it all goes in the glass and I drink it over an hour or more. When I was asked to weigh into the Glendronach 12 review, of course I obliged, and soon after received one 2018-batch 30ml sample from Dramfacer Hamish. However, I cheekily requested a second sample. This Glendronach 12 comparison experience is a pretty good argument for multiple or larger samples being sent for reviewing purposes, because had I stuck to the first sample from Hamish, my review would have been quite damning towards Glendronach. We can only assess what’s in front of us, right?

After my first sampling, I was convinced that the bottle of 2021 batch I’d purchased for this shoot-out was rubbish; thin, watery, and lacking in substance in comparison to the 2018 sample from Hamish. I surmised that Glendronach had fallen from its once-mighty perch – by quite a distance – and I was rueing the day that Brown-Forman got involved. In my summary of the side-by-side, I put this difference down to batch variation (rather than chill-filtration).

But because of that second sample sitting on my supershelf, and at the behest of Wally, I was able to have another go. The second time, things were not as black and white – the two samples from 2018 and 2021 were a lot closer in smell and taste than I’d thought. Whilst one had almondy Bakewell vibes, the other had an edgier, match strike paper finish; both were rather enjoyable and did not elicit anything like the mild revulsion I had felt towards the 2021 in the first round.

So the take-away for me is this: Glendronach 12 is the same whisky as it’s always been, produced in what can reasonably be assumed is the same way. It is simply exhibiting batch variation – much like every other batch-produced whisky out there. Consistency in whisky batches, for some, is a comfort; they know what they’re getting each time they buy a bottle, and that’s what they want. But for others, consistency is pedestrian. I’m a celebrant of variation – I want to see how a distillery progresses and morphs over the years. But the Glendronach 12 that you buy today is as near as – dammit – the same as the Glendronach 12 you bought a few years ago, just with a few subtle batch differences.

I’m still learning, and I have a long, long way to go. But as a non-professional drinker who is in this for the fun of it, I’m glad I had another go at tasting the two Glendronach 12s side-by-side: my opinion has shifted positively. Tasting whisky is so dependent on environment, attitude, mood, preceding food intake, tiredness and a million other things, and it’s not fair to cast aspersions on a whisky you’ve only had 30ml of. Ultimately, I fear Glendronach has undeservedly become the sole punching bag for the chill-filtration outrage colouring our era of whisky enjoyment. In reality, they’re just doing what they’ve always done. Perhaps deservedly, though, they’re getting all this heat because of their opaque interactions with us enthusiasts, guided by poorly executed marketing and communications strategies.

Wally’s Notes

Glendronach 12yo, 2021 sample, 43% ABV
£45-ish and available everywhere

Thanks to Dougie for the sample.

Nose

Soft and delicate sherry notes, with all the boxes of expectation checked. A little nuttiness and ‘enter-here’ dried fruit of your choice. I’ll go with dried apricot on this one, but some sips are darker, like prunes. The sweetness is rich, and I fancy it’s the PX kicking in a little, like an ice-cream caramel sauce, but time brings an unexpected lick of maturity: like sitting at a well-worn desk. Leather and oak, sure, but there’s also a dustiness, as if from a crisp and dry leather chamois. Overall, more sherried than I remember.

Palate

Softly spiced arrival – elegant, even. Silky. Everything we once enjoyed about Macallan 12yo (when we cared). Everything on the nose is delivered, although that hint of dustiness doesn’t come through. It’s a decadent and delicately rich sip. This is a room-pleaser. I should have a bottle of this once more.

Glendronach 12yo, 2018 sample, 43% ABV
Secondary market only

Thanks to Hamish for the sample.

Nose

OK, no bones about it, everything above is pretty much here, but it’s a tad lighter with a tiny notch of sharper, fresher, sweet fruit acidity and alcohol. You’d be unlikely to spot that in isolation though. It even adds a lick of interest.

Palate

Overall, very similar – but a little different. I was able to tell them apart blind time after time due to the rounder, slightly richer edge on the first sample (the 2021) versus a slight acidity in this. It’s not vinegary, but rather like a sweet grape juice I didn't get on the other. Both are equally excellent in my opinion. I don’t know if Hamish is after a score here, but I’m tired trying to separate good from good so I’ll go 7/10 on both.

The Dregs (Wally)

Can I tell these apart? Sure. But can I tell if one has been processed differently from the other? Of course not.

Even if there was aggressive chill-filtration used on one and not the other, it wouldn’t be guaranteed we’d pick it out. It’s not a case of comparing just one set of expressions to determine the effect of a process, but rather of comparing hundreds of drams over time. As our experience builds, we feel we’re better rewarded by un-chill-filtered whiskies. That’s what makes us crave that bottle statement. In the end, I can only tell these apart in the same way I might be able to tell apart any two batches of the same whisky. Side by side – yes. In isolation? Not so sure.

If I’m reading all of this right, it would seem there’s been an information baby lost in the throwing out of the compliance bathwater. Perhaps the 43% ABV 12yo requires (and always has required) more filtering than the 46% ABV 15, 18 and 21-year-old siblings? But if so, why remove the SWA ‘non-compliant’ label from them all?

In any case, I’m off to buy a 12yo Glendronach. That’s something I didn’t expect to say anytime soon. Thanks, Hamish and Dougie – this deep dive was needed.

Score: 7/10 WMc.