GlenAllachie 15 vs Glendronach 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky

[@McIntyresMalts]

A quintessential comparison. I came to the opposite conclusion in my video of the same comparison 🥃

[@greenvalley651]

I have been waiting for this review. Thank you Erik, I really appreciate every single scotch review do .

[@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies]

Thanks!🥃

[@cliffnorman178]

Your comparison is as per usual superb. Professional, straight forward without any "embroidery"

[@DeanAitken]

Glendronach is my favorite. It seems oily and rich and hard to put down. GlenAllachie is a bit sharper but still great. These are what other Scotch's aspire to

[@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies]

Thanks for watching! Slainte! 🥃

[@nealbruce5914]

Thank you Eric! Fabulous and honest comparison! The Glendronach is no longer NCF. I contacted Brown Forman and they gave me a lousy answer. They don’t state NCF on the 15 any longer. I have more fun with Glenallachie and Bunnahabhain! Thank you once again! Neal

[@DileepB]

They are no longer willing to say if it is or is not. Not sure why.

[@vangstr]

You should’ve also included Tamdhu 15 with this comparison.

[@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies]

You should’ve also sent me a bottle of Tamdhu 15 🥃

[@sinemetu1040]

Finally the head to head/vs I wanted to see… Thank you Erik!!!

[@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies]

You're welcome! Slainte! 🥃

[@Rohit_M]

That's a solid head2head of a couple of quality sherried 15 year olds. I have thoroughly enjoyed GA15 and yet to crack open the GD15. I will end up doing a bit of head2head myself. Thanks and cheers Erik.

[@marcwhiskey]

Great comparison of the two, I liked the analysis and tasting process.

[@teddyballgame25]

Someone already said this but GA really needs time in the glass to settle down . The 18 straight out of the bottle doesn’t smell or taste good but after 20 min in the glass that sulfur turns into chocolate.

[@eddeppenbrook4188]

Nice review. I always get the best citrus notes on the GlenAllechie which draws me to that distillery. My 18 and 25 are beautiful.

[@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies]

Thanks for sharing! Slainte! 🥃

[@Koby616]

Good comparison 😊 by stats they look so close

[@greenvalley651]

It would be nice to see the Glenallachie 15 vs the 12 . In my neighborhood the 12 is 67$ before taxes and the 15 is 99$. I wonder if the 15 is worth the price difference.

[@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies]

The 12 has PX in it and is a lot darker and sweeter with more prune notes.

[@jackthepickledhound]

And this is why head to head comparisons are the best. I don't do enough myself. I usually do more contrasting drams. I never bought GA15 and haven't opened my GD15. It's a political thing and I missed out on all the overaged Glendronach Billy released....my GD is the first with Rachel's signature but definitely says NCF. And I wasn't really into sherry when these 2 were all the rage. Then I got into the 10CS hype for a minute. I'm still enjoying a very pale GA12 vs a darker one from 2022. The way you describe the Revival should sell a lot of bottles for BrwonForeman. The reviews of GA really has me anticipating Billy Walker distillate in the near future, assuming that the new make will be significantly different than the old stock and he'll continue with fantastic casking so .....maybe I need to stash a current 15 till 2032 and have a GlenAllachie head to head . We'll be 66 by then and hopefully Billy will still be working.

[@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies]

Thanks for watching! Slainte! 🥃

[@torbenmortensen75]

For my palate: Glendronach wins, but with the 12s it is the other way around by a lot, the GA12 is way better than GD12. ... on the 18s I would go directly to Arran instead 😉 Thanks for the review.

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Great choices for head to head comparison. Hard to lose either way. I find I see the GlenAllachie costing a little more, although it's still a solid value for 15 years and these specs.

[@Brad-ic4bp]

These are my two favorite scotches. They're very different, but I usually prefer the Glenallachie 15 (sweeter and more "berry-like").

[@McIntyresMalts]

GD can’t claim NCF now mate

[@jbar6284]

There's an excellent article about GD and chill-filtration on the dramface website. The takeaways: cf is not quite as black and white as it may at first appear, there are some shades of grey. Rachel Barrie claimed nothing had changed in the processes used at GD. So there were some possibly cf-like steps sometimes taken at GD under previous ownership, when they weren't part of the SWA and so not as legally constrained as Brown-Forman's lawyers now believe themselves to be. That is, back when the labels said ncf. The over-aging of some GD releases in the past may be skewing our perceptions/memories, somewhat.

[@McIntyresMalts]

@@jbar6284 100% my friend! Appreciate you mentioning this

[@leandropelizer4872]

Amazing fight! So, if I understood, the Glendronach has that sulfuric note on the nose, but on the palate that note is more present on the GlenAllachie? I'm learning a lot with your videos. Slàinte

[@jbar6284]

Yes. Interestingly, when Erik first *tastes* the GA he *doesn't* mention sulphur. It's only when he first *tastes* the GD that he says the GD *doesn't* have the slight sulphur note... the note that he had only previously noted on the *nose* of the GD, not the GA at all. This is no criticism of Erik whatsoever, but I wonder if it perhaps indicates just how difficult it can be for our brains to separate out which whisky has which features? I could be mistaken, but I would have presumed one could more easily tell/separate the two when one is only nosing two whisky glasses. As soon as one begins to put whisky in one's mouth, then the separation perhaps becomes more difficult--and yes, Erik did take care to have a sip of water between the two, but only on the first time he switched between them, not later switches. So in sum: is Erik's (truly excellent) brain perhaps playing tricks on him, here? Has he mis-associated the sulphur he found on the nose of the GD on his right with the GA glass on his left? Possibly completely unrelated, but other whiskytube reviews of GA15--and more than likely different batches--have said how clean of any sulphur that whisky has been for them. So I'm saying my (perhaps prejudiced?) expectation would have been for the GA to be more likely clear of any sulphur. I'll also say that, certainly for nosing, both in wine and whisky, first impressions should be the ones most closely paid attention to. We can think/talk ourselves out of things later on, but first impressions are often the most honest/unclouded. That's when we're most likely to detect faults in wine such as TCA. That may also be when we're most likely to note something like sulphur in a whisky (or a wine)? Erik: this was an excellent comparison both in itself/for the two whiskies, and perhaps also for a look at the process? Many thanks. Tremendous kudos to you for your efforts to sit the exam(s) later this year. If possible I'd say when comparing whiskies (in exams, I mean, not on whiskytube) try to take the effort to write notes, as that may be one further means to prevent any chance of mixing/mis-associating aromas from one glass with another, as may have happened here?

[@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies]

You can also become "nose blind" to an aroma (especially sulphur) so that you smell it at first and then it goes away because your nose essentially says "Okay, I've had enough of that!"

[@kevinbetancourt9033]

I went to my local specs and they must have had 60 cases of GlenAllachie 15. Key price $85. Looks like they’re trying to shift some out the door. I’ll be going back when they don’t sell hopefully get it for around 70. Probably not…

[@DileepB]

One was distilled by Billy Walker and the other one was finished by him!

[@szokematyas2562]

Sorry, but in my opinion, this comparison has a small problem. Yes, GlenAllachie is sharp at first. Wasn't a fan really. But... once I decided to let it air a bit. Turns out, GlenAllachie is the sort of drink you should let breathe. I usually let it breathe for around 10-12 minutes. Became part of my top 5 since that. Glendronach does not need that (in my opinion). So... please try it like that: one poured when filming, one poured 10 minutes before. You should smell a lot of difference!

[@thebolbiggity]

Yep let it sit in the glass 1 min for every year in the cask

[@jbar6284]

A fair comparison would surely be to pour both in advance, rather than treating them differently, regardless of one possibly not requiring a pre-pour?

[@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies]

Ok, next time I'll have 15 minutes of video in which I jibber jabber and "blah blah blah" before I get to the whisky like some other Whisky Tubers. These bottles have had plenty of aeration.

[@YzKnox]

What you think if compared those to Macallan 15 ?

[@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies]

I have not tried the Macallan 15. It is $164 in my neighborhood so I'm not going to run out and get one.

[@YzKnox]

@@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies yes sir , I’m the same way

[@catnapgee5357]

You should practice articulating words.

[@ErikWaitWhiskyStudies]

I’m 57 years old and sometimes my teeth get in the way. I often have to over pronounce things in order to avoid sound like Elmer Fudd and slow down so I don’t sound like Porky Pig… th… th… th… that’s all folks!