Here is a Glentauchers to close out my week of heavily sherried 25+ year old whiskies bottled by Gordon & MacPhail. Glentauchers is a pretty anonymous Speyside distillery. I’ve reviewed five others previously—I believe those were all from ex-bourbon casks. Like Monday’s Aberfeldy, this one is from a first-fill sherry puncheon; Tuesday’s Mortlach was from a first-fill butt (a bit smaller than a puncheon). Well, I liked the Mortlach quite a bit more than the Aberfeldy and so hope that the cask type is not going to be the predictor of quality here. Let’s get right to it.

Glentauchers 27, 1993 (54.3%; first-fill sherry puncheon 2635; Gordon & MacPhail; from a bottle split)

Nose: Ah yes, this is a richer, fruitier sherry cask. It leads with dried orange peel, fig jam and a touch of hoisin. Sweeter on the second sniff with brandied raisins. A bit of pencil lead too. With time some apricot jam joins the party. With a few drops of water there’s some camphor and it get spicier on the whole.

Palate: Comes as indicated by the nose. Quite approachable at full strength but a touch hot; rich texture. Gets sweeter as it heads to the finish (caramel). More savoury as it goes with soy sauce and dried mushrooms emerging to join the richer notes. Okay, let’s see what water does for it. Spicier here too with water and also a little sweeter (brown sugar).

Finish: Long. The dark, sweet notes crest and then some peppery oak pops out at the end. Earthier and spicier here as it goes. Just a hint of savoury gunpowder at the end. As on the palate with water.

Comments: This out-Glendronachs Glendronach—for what I assume is a lot less money than would have been asked for a 27 yo Glendronach “single cask”. Excellent sherried whisky of the rich, fruity type.

Rating: 90 points.