GlenDronach Revival vs. Allardice head-to-head

Revival bottle date 2015/05/13

Allardice bottle date 2017/04/20

Revival...

Nose: Cereal and toasted grains at the forefront. Then the sweet stuff marches in - warm toffee, sherry, cherry yoghurt (Onken cherry yoghurt), and wine gums. A faint furniture polish is also there that's reminiscent of something much older. But there's an alcohol fume-burn that hits the top of the nose I rather were not there.

Palate: Sweet & sherried, but gives over very quickly to a dryness. Pepper and spice play around in the mouth. The expected woody notes are there in the dryness.

Finish: Long and dry.

Allardice...

Nose: Noticeably sweeter than the Revival with a more full-on bag of plump raisins shoved in your face. Signs of that lovely aroma of polish, but more rounded. Dried fruit that's been soaked in sherry overnight. This one is more intense on the Sherry-front than the earlier Allardice bottles I've had.

Palate: Immediate sweetness with rich sherry and cake spice. The dryness also appears, but doesn't rush into the room like a mental puppy. It's more patient and well behaved. The chilli-tingle is there, but again is nicely balanced and compliments the sweetness and dryness to complete a happy triangle of sensations.

Finish: Long and oily. Rich sweetness with gentle dryness easing in.

Conclusion... Compared to the Revival, the Allardice is richer & sweeter with more of an oily creaminess. It's also a tad darker in appearance. The Revival is harsher and drier. However, the 2017 Allardice still seems to be sherry supercharged like many older Allardice bottlings.

Overall Conclusion

Although the consistency of the 2 bottles remains the same after all the years I've been drinking them... it's still Allardice all the way.