Head to head · unusually close flavour match
The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old vs Redbreast 12 Year Old
One axis separates these two: sherried, 9 against 6.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old | Redbreast 12 Year Old | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Single pot still |
| Origin | Highland, Scotland | Ireland |
| Age | 12 years | 12 years |
| Strength | 43% ABV | 40% ABV |
| Cask | Pedro Ximénez sherry cask, Oloroso sherry cask | Ex-bourbon, Oloroso sherry |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £52 | £55 |
| Per 10cl | £7.43 | £7.86 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £173 | £196 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Different countries: The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old from Highland, Scotland, Redbreast 12 Year Old from Ireland.
The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old is a single malt, Redbreast 12 Year Old a single pot still.
Both state 12 years.
Cask as each producer describes it: The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old in pedro ximénez sherry cask and oloroso sherry cask, Redbreast 12 Year Old in ex-bourbon and oloroso sherry.
Neither states chill filtration.
Colour: The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old natural colour, Redbreast 12 Year Old silent.
Redbreast 12 Year Old: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Redbreast 12 Year Old is £3.00 dearer a bottle than The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old.
Strength keeps that ordering: £173 a litre of pure alcohol for The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old against £196.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old is 23rd cheapest and Redbreast 12 Year Old 27th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old | Redbreast 12 Year Old |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 0 | 0 |
| Sweet | 7 | 6 |
| Fruity | 6 | 7 |
| Spicy | 5 | 5 |
| Woody | 5 | 5 |
| Sherried | 9 | 6 |
| Cereal | 5 | 7 |
| Oily | 7 | 7 |
That is the only axis of the eight to reach 3 points. Next widest is cereal, 5 against 7.
Identical on peaty, spicy, woody and oily.
Each bottle in its own right
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 →Redbreast 12 Year Old
Thick, oily pot-still spice with sherried fruit. The style Ireland nearly lost.
Single pot still requires a mash of both malted and unmalted barley — an Irish style that came close to extinction.
Full record →Both listed for after dinner; only The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old for sherry-cask benchmark and value at 43%; only Redbreast 12 Year Old for something different.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old and Redbreast 12 Year Old: glendronachdistillery.com, redbreastwhiskey.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.