Head to head · same category, comparable price
The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old vs The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old
One axis separates these two: sherried, 6 against 9.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old | The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Single malt |
| Origin | Speyside, Scotland | Highland, Scotland |
| Age | 12 years | 12 years |
| Strength | 43% ABV | 43% ABV |
| Cask | Ex-bourbon barrel, Oloroso sherry butt | Pedro Ximénez sherry cask, Oloroso sherry cask |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £50 | £52 |
| Per 10cl | £7.14 | £7.43 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £166 | £173 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Both from Scotland: The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old from Speyside, The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old from Highland.
Both state 12 years.
Cask as each producer describes it: The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old in ex-bourbon barrel and oloroso sherry butt, The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old in pedro ximénez sherry cask and oloroso sherry cask.
Neither states chill filtration.
Colour: The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old silent, The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old natural colour.
The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old is £2.00 dearer a bottle than The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old.
Strength keeps that ordering: £166 a litre of pure alcohol for The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old against £173.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old is 22nd cheapest and The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old 23rd cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old | The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 0 | 0 |
| Sweet | 8 | 7 |
| Fruity | 6 | 6 |
| Spicy | 4 | 5 |
| Woody | 5 | 5 |
| Sherried | 6 | 9 |
| Cereal | 5 | 5 |
| Oily | 6 | 7 |
That is the only axis of the eight to reach 3 points. Next widest is sweet, 8 against 7.
Identical on peaty, fruity, woody and cereal.
Each bottle in its own right
The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old
Honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sweet without being cloying, and 43% helps.
Full record →The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old
Christmas cake, walnut and dark chocolate. Full sherry maturation, not a finish.
Matured 'for at least 12 years' — an explicit minimum rather than a nominal age — exclusively in PX and Oloroso casks with no bourbon component at all.
Full record →Both listed for after dinner; only The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old for gift; only The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old for sherry-cask benchmark and value at 43%.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old and The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old: thebalvenie.com, glendronachdistillery.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.