The GlenDronach Distillery nestled in the valley of Forgue, deep in the East Highland hills near Aberdeenshire, is named after the source of its water: the Dronac burn. Founded in 1826, The GlenDronach was one of the very first licensed distilleries and has a history of enterprising owners, from the flamboyant James Allardice to the ambitious Walter Scott. Allardice was a colourful character and stories abound as to how he promoted his whisky with entrepreneurial flair. He was a pioneer of sherry cask maturation and would have celebrated today’s superb The GlenDronach, maturing our whisky in the finest Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks.
Although times have moved on, the processes used to create The GlenDronach have remained largely unchanged. The GlenDronach is of true Highland style: a heavy and robust spirit, perfect for a long maturation period in sherry casks. The award-winning GlenDronach range marries the best of Highland and Spanish skill and heritage to offer whiskies of elegant, complex character with tremendous depth of taste.
We are renowned as the masters of sherry cask maturation, and our Highland whiskies are recognised for their deep colour and rich flavour profiles, which range from sweet fruity flavours, from the Pedro Ximenez casks we select, to the dry and nutty notes, from superb Oloroso casks. Our well-kept secrets have been guarded for nearly 200 years by a parliament of rooks who love The GlenDronach so much they try to nest in the warehouses. The distillery folk believe as long as the rooks remain at the distillery, it will be good for the whis