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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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August 3, 2023 |
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Glenrothes, randomly
Verticales are fantastic, but verticales can be boring. And then again, how do you build verticales when there are NAS bottles?... And when the distilleries are 'secret'? It's all becoming a joyful mess, I'm telling you... What's more, I've seen some friendly companies bottling names that can easily be disclosed without drawing the wrath of anyone as 'secret Speyside', just because the public believes that 'secret Speysides' ought to shelter very prestigious names. Smart! |
Jambon persillé bourguignon
(Cuisine AZ) |
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Glenrothes 10 yo (46%, Canmore, bourbon hogshead, 470 bottles, +/-2023) 
Colour: pale white wine. Nose: raw barley, malt, cut grass, apple peel, bakers' yeast, dry white beer, a little linoleum, oak spices… It's raw and very dry indeed. Mouth: much more fruits, and we're talking both orchard fruit (apples, plums, pears) and grapefruit and lemon. Still a lot of grass and ale in the background, but indeed it is fruitier. Finish: rather long, spicy. Allspice and capsicum. Comments: no-compromise young malt whisky in its rawest, most unadulterated form. Solid drop if you like them totally al natural.
SGP:351 - 83 points. |
Probably just the opposite… |
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Glenrothes 8 yo 2013/2021 (59.8%, Fadandel, 1st fill oloroso quarter cask, cask #1660, 168 bottles)
Remember a quarter cask is half a cask. Typical Scottish logic. We do expect a little monster… Colour: amber. Nose: ten tons of old walnuts, whiffs of burning lamp oil, a lot of raw cacao, cardamom and clove… With water: chocolate cake, moussaka, aubergines, coffee… Mouth (neat): big, with chocolate sauce, orange squash, artichoke liqueur, beef jerky, green peppercorn, cardamom once more… And of course, walnuts. With water: rather rounder and sweeter, but always with some roaring cardamom and clove. A lot of walnut skins, nocino, puréed chestnuts, more artichoke (liqueur, Cynar)… Finish: long, spicier. Peppered walnut wine of some sort. Comments: a little extreme, at the other end of the spectrum. Very good drop if you're ready for it.
SGP:461 - 84 points. |
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Glenrothes 15 yo (55%, Spirits Service, SpiritFilled Mythical Beasts, first fill sherry, 588 bottles, 2022) 
These good folks are also 'Whisky Casks Investment Specialists'. Well, nobody's perfect. Colour: deep gold. Nose: a fine nutty Glenrothes, close to some OBs, with some Nescafé, caramel, then overripe apples and profiteroles. With water: a little deeper into the malt, with some brown ale, chocolate sauce, a drop of Heering… Mouth (neat): indeed, classic full-proof Glenrothes, with some chocolate, cracked pepper, bits of moist cigar and one double-espresso. With water: plus a little stout and some peppery old wood. Finish: long, sherried, with more walnut wine, chocolate and strong black tea. A few wood shavings in the aftertaste. Comments: very good, with some Glendronachness here and there.
SGP:561 - 87 points. |
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Glenrothes 16 yo 2006/2022 (53.3%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice for Kirsch Import, 1st fill sherry hogshead, cask #18601303, 328 bottles)
Colour: gold. Nose: a little fizzy, leathery and sulphury at first, then more on fruit pastes, fruitcake, tealeaves… You do feel that it would need water. Happy to oblige: now geared more towards dried figs, raisins, dates… Mouth (neat): sulphur indeed, mingled with marmalade and those famous old walnuts, then black pepper and many leaves. With water: black toffee, black pepper, capsicum and juniper, bitter leaves… Finish: long and pretty leathery. Comments: we know some of our German friends are pretty fond of this style of heavy/dry sherried malt. Good catch then.
SGP:461 - 84 points. |
Perhaps one of those numerous Glenrothes by Cadenhead's? |
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Glenrothes-Glenlivet 16 yo 2001/2018 (52.6%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon hogshead, 210 bottles)
Colour: straw. Nose: right on the malt, with some muesli, then sauvignon blanc, granny smith, lemons, chalk… With water: white pepper and just clay and grist. In the core of the core (of the core). Mouth (neat): good tart lemonness, more granny smith, more chalk and more sauvignon blanc. White melons too. With water: ziiiing. The tightest Sancerre. I know we always quote Sancerre but in my opinion, it's one the wines that are closest to raw, bone-dry, unaromatised malt whisky. Finish: long, fruity, on wine gums. The yellow ones and the white ones. Pure lime juice in the aftertaste but the signature is sweeter. Manzana Verde. Comments: one of the better casks/batches within these parcels, IMHO.
SGP:561 - 86 points. |
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Glenrothes 21 yo 1997/2019 (55.8%, Liquid Treasures for eSpirits, 10th anniversary, sherry hogshead, 195 bottles)
The 'lady' on the label is holding a gun, so I suppose there is some gunpowder to be expected now… Colour: deep gold. Nose: there is, indeed, a little gunpowder, struck matches or else, but nothing too excessive. What's coming to centre stage then is a large basket of dried fruits, dates, raisins, pears, figs, candied oranges… plus some sesame oil and orange blossom. With water: bitter ale, sake, damp chalk, perhaps albariza (that white chalky soil in Jerez)… Mouth (neat): very good! No gunpowder this time, rather tighter citrus, blood oranges, a drop of palo cortado, some cracked pepper… With water: very good, between lemon liqueur and civilised chalk (what?) Finish: long, closer to malt, grist, lemon herb focaccia… Comments: good good good (???)
SGP:561 - 86 points. |
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Glenrothes 25 yo 1997/2023 (55%, The Whisky Jury, refill hogshead, cask #Gr-1997-1, 233 bottles) 
Very funny label, extremely well done if you ask me. Please do Edvard Munch's The Scream next time (perhaps with an ex-refill- STR-Laphroaig-finish?) Colour: straw. Nose: good fun indeed, with a lot of parsley and cress at first, then salty liquorice and Cuban cigars, then coriander, mint and grapefruit. In other words, it is an unusually potent, zestier Glenrothes. With water: perfect muddy porridge, sprinkled with lemon juice and… whisky indeed. Perfect breakfast. Mouth (neat): grapefruit indeed, lemons, elderflower liqueur and the spritz they're making thereof (St Germain over Aperol!) I wouldn't have said Glenrothes, I'd have said Highland Park. Could we talk to the warehouse manager? (of 1997). With water: same feelings. Excellent, but do not drown it. Finish: long, tight, lemony, yet fat, fermentary, waxy, slightly smoky… Seriously, HP. Comments: best of show this far.
SGP:562 - 89 points. |
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Glenrothes-Glenlivet 21 yo 1996/2018 (50.9%, Cadenhead, Small Batch, hogsheads, 990 bottles)
Another one from the not-so-distant good old days. They had gathered the contents of three bourbon hogsheads. Colour: straw. Nose: one of the casks may have gone off the road at some point, as we're finding a little aluminium, silverware, pack of nails… A patched cask? All the rest is extremely fine, with good chalk and clay, porridge, wool, musty cellar, fresh concrete… With water: grass, herbs, skins and peels. It's closing! Mouth (neat): super! Grapefruits and 10% pineapples, possibly from 'that cask'. Some sour creams, sour fruit juice, lemon yoghurt, then more and more pepper. With water: a tiny metallic soapiness, some sweetened grapefruit juice, and that tiny muddy/metallic side. Finish: pretty long, grassy, porridge sprinkled with lemon being back. Sour metal in the aftertaste. Comments: good and intriguing.
SGP:561 - 84 points. |
Last one, let's change decade… |
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Glenrothes 1989/2000 (59%, Caledonian Selection, Rinaldi Import, barrel, cask #20119) 
I have to say I've never been a fan of those decanters by Caledonian Selection/Liquid Gold Enterprises, except that they work very well if you want to use them to do some avocado plantations. Or else… They were having several young Glenrothes like this one. Colour: white wine. Nose: tutti-frutti eau-de-vie aged in quasi-inert wood, cassata dough, supermarket panettone (come?) and just various pastry doughs. Actually, this is very nice. With water: it's clearly Italian, with amaretti and limoncello. Good fun there. Mouth (neat): very good! Good fatness, this Highland-Parkness once more, herbs and leaves, a coastal smoke, and even straight peat and lemon. With water: wonderful! Polishes, mentholy teas, smokes, lemon marmalade, citron liqueur, chalk… It could be that those rather ugly decanters (but aren't all decanters a little ugly and vulgar anyway?) do work very well for secondary maturation (a.k.a. bottle aging). With this shape, they must be working like little stills… Finish: rather long, very perfect, waxy, sweet, slightly honeyed, and indeed Highland-Parky. We really have to meet with that honourable warehouse manager from Highland Distillers' heyday… Comments: madre de dios, this is a clear winner, this came unexpected! Glenrothes, really?
SGP:562 - 90 points. |
Good, we could quickly have a last one from a good house, don't you think? |
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Glenrothes 20 yo 1997/2017 (50.1%, Whisky-Fässle, sherry butt)
This one was bottled for the 'Phoenix Irish Pub Lauffen im Vogtshof'. That's just south of Heilbronn, Germany, and they have 4.9* on Google! That's our next trip to Germany sorted. Colour: office coffee. Nose: a strong contender, but this is rather fully on Mars bars, millionaire shortbread, biltong, mocha and roasted chestnuts. The jury's still out. With just a drop of water: it wouldn't change much, I'm just finding tony notes of persillé, 'a terrine made with cooked ham that is finely shredded and mixed with a generous amount of parsley'. Alright. Forgot to add, it's a typical dish from Burgundy, which takes white Meursault well in my experience. Mouth (neat): ah, creamy armagnac, brandy de Jerez, grandma's walnut liqueur, Max's nocino, chocolate liqueur, high-end Bailey's (but no one drinks that, it's just dying in the bottles, is it not)… With water: perfect chocolaty sherry. Mozart Liqueur, or the wonderful liqueur-filled chocolates they're making at our friends Abtey's, here in little Alsace. No, we do not do product placement in our tastings, but I'm sure we should. Like, 'this noses like the brand new Louis Vuitton handbag made out of Scottish ostrich leather, etc.' No, cancel that. Finish: long, full of coffee, chocolate and beef jerky. Sukiyaki. Comments: very close to the higher plateaus of sherrydom.
SGP:561 - 88 points. |
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