2009 Glendronach 12 Year Old "Hart Brothers Finest Collection" K&L Exclusive Cask Strength Single Rum Cask Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

I can't express what an absolute shock it was to be offered a cask of Glendronach, let alone two! This extremely rare and unusual expression of the excellent eastern Highland distillery is truly one of a kind. I don't know if you'll ever find a single ex-rum barrel from this fabulous distillery. Honestly by looking at it, you'd be hard pressed to notice the rum. It's not dark at all. No the color is yellow straw. But on the nose, the malty richness of Dronach, which we very rarely see these days not coupled with sherry, it's slightly pointed by some wild topicality to it. Ultimately, the rum isn't playing a huge role here, but that doesn't matter. Naked 'Dronach should be on every malt nerds bucket list. The nose is soft and malty with hints of cola, blond roast, crystal malt. It's a bit shy at first but with a splash of water and some air some fabulous aromas emerge. guava, honeysuckle, sugar wafers, yuzu peel and unusual minerality. On the palate it's very full bodied almost oily. Much more textural than the light color and nose might imply. It's pure and driven. Focused and malt and bright orchard fruit. It's surprisingly long and starts to add some spice on the end. A truly interesting version of this well known distillery, that might not scratch the sherry bomb itch, but it will satisfy almost every other scotch lover.