Head to head · same category, comparable price
Bowmore 12 Year Old vs The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old
They diverge on 2 of our eight axes, most of all peaty, 6 against 0.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Bowmore 12 Year Old | The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Single malt |
| Origin | Islay, Scotland | Highland, Scotland |
| Age | 12 years | 12 years |
| Strength | 40% ABV | 43% ABV |
| Cask | American oak ex-bourbon cask, European oak Oloroso sherry cask | Pedro Ximénez sherry cask, Oloroso sherry cask |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £38 | £52 |
| Per 10cl | £5.43 | £7.43 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £136 | £173 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Both from Scotland: Bowmore 12 Year Old from Islay, The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old from Highland.
Both state 12 years.
Cask as each producer describes it: Bowmore 12 Year Old in american oak ex-bourbon cask and european oak oloroso sherry cask, The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old in pedro ximénez sherry cask and oloroso sherry cask.
Neither states chill filtration.
Colour: Bowmore 12 Year Old silent, The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old natural colour.
Bowmore 12 Year Old: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old is £14 dearer a bottle than Bowmore 12 Year Old.
Strength keeps that ordering: £136 a litre of pure alcohol for Bowmore 12 Year Old against £173.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Bowmore 12 Year Old is 16th cheapest and The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old 23rd cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Bowmore 12 Year Old | The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 6 | 0 |
| Sweet | 6 | 7 |
| Fruity | 5 | 6 |
| Spicy | 4 | 5 |
| Woody | 5 | 5 |
| Sherried | 5 | 9 |
| Cereal | 5 | 5 |
| Oily | 6 | 7 |
2 of the eight axes clear 3 points; after peaty comes sherried at 5 against 9.
Identical on woody and cereal.
Each bottle in its own right
Bowmore 12 Year Old
Sea salt, lemon and gentle smoke over sherried fruit. The most balanced entry-level Islay.
Bowmore is precise about wood and silent on strength — its page specifies hand-selected ex-bourbon and Oloroso casks while stating no ABV anywhere. Not to be confused with the separate Bowmore 12 Sherry Oak Cask SKU.
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 →No overlap in what we list them for: Bowmore 12 Year Old for peat curious and all-rounder, The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old for sherry-cask benchmark, after dinner and value at 43%.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Bowmore 12 Year Old and The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old: bowmore.com, glendronachdistillery.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.