Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Natural Color
Age:  12 years
Abv:  43%

Bottle Notes
Nose: Sweet, creamy vanilla, with hints of ginger and autumn fruits.
Palate: Rich, creamy, silky-smooth. Warm, rich oak and sherry sweetness, a full mouth feel, raisins, soft fruits.
Finish: Long, full and firm. Slightly nutty.

Nose
Malt, dusty bubblegum fruit.  Some juicy roundness. Rich, raisin/grape, dark fruit. Little sparkles of spice starting to poke through, nice.  Yes, now after several minutes, the character is starting to come forth.  That wet ginger spice is a coating around the rich, ripe dark fruits.  Later on, I feel like I am pulling a thin strand of light smoke out of the glass.

Palate
Bam!  Rich, round, full, smooth.  Sparks of that spice but the juicy, rich fruitiness is overwhelmingly delightful.  The juicy, sweet sherry is the main player here, and it is wonderful.  The spiciness of oak angles in on the edges, but the main is lovely, rich, full.

Finish
Slightly oily, gentle, fades to memories too quickly.  In line with the palate and nose, a lovely reflection of the journey,

Final Thoughts
This is a fine dram, one of the best.  It was a bit of a slow start for me tonight, but after a bit of time it opened up its treasures to the nose, and the palate followed from there.  “Matured in the finest Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks from Spain”, and that rich, red, sherry fruitiness is all over this excellent whisky.  That dusty malt baseline is mostly present and a lovely base for the Speyside/Highland promise.  I think tonight, the palate wins the day – it is such a full, lovely, creamy mouth feel, one that just kept getting better and better through the dram.  I might be off on this hint of smoke, but my mind gets there with it.

Sadly, I have not seen The GlenDronach 12 in Nova Scotia in the past 4+ years.  I picked this bottle up last spring on a trip through New Brunswick.  I do see that I have a GlenDronach 12 canister on my shelf from about 10 years back, so at one point we must have had it around here.  Would love to see it again!