GLENROTHES 1974 43YO - GORDON & MACPHAIL PRIVATE COLLECTION

I've always had a bit of a strange relationship with Glenrothes up through my whisky drinking year and its actually not that many years ago that I started to understand  the distillery and its often very, to me at the time, kind of 'middle-of-the-road' where you had to go to the indies to get something a bit of of the ordinary.

Working my way through more than bit of indie bottlings, many from Cadenheads and the SMWS, I started to see why this seemingly 'boring' (again, at least to me) distillery might just appeal to someone, still...

Its just a great base spirit and I certainly see why it has been a part of blending recipies. Its also a malt that takes time to mature, IMO - so grabbing a bottle of the Select Reserve disappointed me greatly. However, this indie release also a part of Gordon & MacPhails revamping of their bottling series - this time the Private Collection series - does carry quite a bit of age so I am expecting this one to deliver a nice experience.

Approaching Glenrothes distillery, May 5th 2012 © The Malt Desk

Glenrothes 1974 43yo 49,5% (02.12.1974/06.07.2018) refill sherry puncheon#18440, 276 bottles Gordon & MacPhail Private Collection

Nose:
Bit of sweet/sour note at first pour it its gone after just under 1 minute.

The sherry cask comes through immediately, not at all accompanies by invasive oak of any kind, but just mellow honey and gingerbread, dried fruit and hints of polished leather upholstery, 'Old Dublin' sweet pipe tobacco and faint eucalyptus.


Taste:
Ultra clean sherry sherry influence here - you seldom see sherry cask quality like this today unless it contains old whisky like this. This is just about the right drinking strength, IMO although maybe 1-2% more might have taken this even further... There's alcohol soaked fruits, plum cake, cinnamon and and orange peel and brown sugar. On the finish, some Haribo sweet licorices comes through with a
bit of nuts and mint.

Quite a lovely old dram, but I can't help thinking its missing a little something...

88/100!

Official sample provided by Gordon & MacPhail

GLENROTHES 1995/2013 - DISTILLERY BOTTLING

Tucked away on a side street in the village of Rothes, giant Glenrothes who produces 5.600.000 liters of spirit each year, but lets only about 3-4% of its production escape the huge blending vats of The Cutty Sark and Famous Grouse brands.

Inside the Glenrothes distillery you'll find 10 stills running 7 days a week, all very lovely lined up - and almost resembling and often referred to as a cathedral style still house. The Glenrothes is not normally open to the public, but if you get a chance e.g. during the Spirit of Speyside festival, do make sure you pop in - it's an impressive place...

Glenrothes Distillery, May 5th 2012 © The Malt Desk

Glenrothes 1995 (26.10.1995/xx.xx.2013) 43%, Distillery bottling

Colour is light amber

Nose:
Starts with lots of oranges, a trademark Glenrothes features
Then honey, malt, a pleasant nuttiness, grass, vanilla and a hint wood polish

Taste:
More oranges and honey, vanilla and caramel, some peppery spices along with ginger and nutmeg. Gets very malty towards the end, but the spiciness keeps it all in place

To me this is a very straight forward Speyside malt and its a real easy drinker and probably one you could serve to the new/non-whisky drinker and win him/her over with... especially by adding 5 drops of water to mellow it a bit with. Good stuff!

Finally, thanks to JS for the sample!

84/100!

GLENROTHES 2007 - ADELPHI

When you shop for distillery bottlings of Glenrothes, you'll notice that almost all of them carries a vintage year, as in all the whisky in the bottling comes from that particular year - a good thing when lots of other distilleries releasing No-Age-Statement whisky... That said, so does Glenrothes, but not to an extend where its taken over their product range - I like that!

Normally, I'd say that you have to go for Glenrothes at the age of 12+ to get the best balanced tipple from this distillery, but sometimes, you just stumble across a younger bottling from an incredible active cask that just creates a massive flavour profile.

The Glenrothes, I'm about to review is one such - and it's also an indie bottling at high strength as, sadly, most you ever see from the distillery itself is either 40/43% bottlings.

A couple of stills at The Glenrothes Distillery, May 5th 2012 © The Malt Desk 

Glenrothes 2007 7yo 67,5%, 1st fill spanish oak sherry hogshead#3523, 329 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is mahogany

Nose:
Lovely sherried nose, with an abundance of dark fruits, plums, prunes and raisins, but also strong coffee and dark chocolate. With its kick it reminds me a bit of Aberlour A'Bunadh, but far from as sweet as the Aberlour... and also less oily. Also a slight burnt caramel note to it.

Taste:
Gentle arrival in spite of being 67,5% alcohol. Prunes and orange notes dominate along with a hint of something BBQ-like/smoky but fades quickly and gives away to espresso/crunchy coffee bean notes. The finish turns slightly bitter with hints of dark liqueurs (Tia Maria/Kahlua), pepper and alcohol nip. Not incredibly complex, but what it does, it does
really well.

I love this, very straight forward and hugely enjoyable!

88/100!

GLENROTHES 1996 - SIGNATORY DENMARK EXCLUSIVE

We're back in the village of Rothes in central Speyside for this next review.
This is, as announced in the previous review, the 2nd Signatory release exclusively for Denmark this Autumn.

Had a wee nip of this one in the store about a week ago, where it came across as very promising. Back in the comfort of my 4 walls, I tried out the sample I was generously provided with...

Glenrothes 1996 16yo 17.05.1996/06.10.2012 57,5%, Hogshead#715113, 293 bottles, Signatory Vintage Exclusively for Denmark

Full straw in colour

Nose:
Honeyed and peppery, heavy on malt with an alcohol nip, hint of apple, nutmeg and tangerines - very warming...

Taste:
Medium arrival on spices and barley sugar and malt - very straight forward. Turns a bit drying but never bitter. Oranges and hints of chocolate pops up along with hints of strawberries, licorice root and honey.

I found this one very hard to dissect which I find very intriguing.
This is a great drinking malt - and that's what malts are for, right?

88/100!

NEW RELEASES - DENMARK EXCLUSIVES + GLANN AR MOR

The Autumn always sees new releases and Danish importer FC Whisky has again secured some bottlings exclusively for Denmark.

Like earlier in the year we got 2 single cask bottlings coming our way from indie bottler Signatory. The previous 2 - a Bowmore and an Imperial which were both really good are reviewed here and here.

This time we have a cask of Glenrothes 1996 and a North British 1997 grain hitting the shelves before long. Details on the bottlings can be found on the labels below:
























FC Whisky also imports Kilchoman to Denmark and the 7th danish single cask is a 6yo Kilchoman from a fresh ex-bourbon barrel. FC Whisky is the first to bottle a 6yo Kilchoman ever...

Full details on this one are:

Kilchoman 6yo Distillery bottling - Denmark Single Cask Release 7,  fresh bourbon barrel#162/2006.
Distilled 26.07.2006 – Bottled 08.10.2012 - 59,4% - 234 bottles!

On a bright final note, FC Whisky has also announced that they will start importing French Single Malt 'Glann ar Mor' and its peated twin - the 'Kornog'.

The Danish market will get these 3 bottlings from them:

- Kornog - 46%
- Kornog cask strength - 58,7% 'Taouarc'h an Hañv 2012'
- Glann ar Mor - 46%
















As the production from Glann ar Mor distillery is limited FC Whisky is very proud to get to represent Glann ar Mor in Denmark. The 'Kornog' peated version recently picked up 95points and a 'Liquid Gold Award' from whisky writer Jim Murray.

GLENROTHES 1970 OCTAVE CASK - DUNCAN TAYLOR

We go back to the small village of Rothes in Speyside for this next review.

This is the 4th Glenrothes I'll be reviewing here and a bit of a speciality as its been partly matured in an Octave cask - a smaller cask of app. 50liter capacity usually used for giving a whisky some more life e.g. if the whisky has spent its first years in a 'tired' cask.

If this whisky originally comes from a tired cask, I'll will not speculate into, but lets do the review and let the note and score speak for itself...

Glenrothes 1970 41yo 06.07.1079/21.09.2011 43,5% ex-bourbon cask + ex sherry octave#491630, 69 bottles by Duncan Taylor for Whisky Shop Dufftown

Colour is gold

Nose:
Vanilla and wood spices, mint leaves, oak, nuts, custard and demerara sugar, hints of perfume/soapy note

Taste:
Light, creamy, carletti sweet licorice, some herbal note, dried fruits and quite some natural caramel, bitter oak finish round it off.

Kind of a weird whisky to review, this one... as its certainly influenced by the larger wood contact it has had after spending time in the Octave cask... a bit too much wood character bestowed too fast upon this one, I think... but not bad whisky - not at all!

85/100!

GLENROTHES 1994 - GORDON & MACPHAIL ELGIN SHOP EXCLUSIVE

Think I might as well do another Glenrothes while at it...

I picked up this bottle in May 2012 when over for the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.

After a visit to the Gordon & MacPhail warehouse in Elgin (...and wow!!! lots of goodies in there!) our small party headed for the shop in South Street, where I picked up this G&M Shop Exclusive bottling. There were other bottlings available but I went for this one since I don't have that much Glenrothes in the cupboard.

So, how is this one?

Glenrothes 1994 17yo 06.10.1994/xx.11.2011 17yo refill sherry hogshead#8940 50%, 204 bottles, G&M Elgin Retail shop Exclusive

Deep gold/amber

Nose:
Slight alcohol burn hits the nose. Then sherry soaked oak with dried fruits. Remarkably fresh in style given it has some earthen notes too. Hints of Tiramisu maybe along with some roasted coffee beans. Water brings out some garden fruits.

Taste:
Strikes me as  being a somewhat 'hot' spirit, this one... and spicy like a habanero straight out of the Yucatàn peninsula (no, not really...but a little chili though). Honeyed sherry - if there is such - a light oloroso blanket with more drying spices and a slightly tannic finish.

A good dram, although its a little 'hot'

86/100!

GLENROTHES 1988 - ARCHIVES BATCH 3

From the village of Rothes in central Speyside, the Glenrothes Distillery with its cathedral like stillhouse often lives a life in bit of anonymity - a shame really because it does put out some very good bottlings on its own.

I might add that the distillery is not normally open to the public, so if you want to visit you need to e.g. attend the Speyside Festival... I certainly think its worth a vist for the still house alone...

We see a good handfull of single cask bottling from indepenent bottlers from time to time and the Archives one is one of those... This review also concludes the 6 part 'Archives - Batch 3'-series.


Glenrothes 1988 23yo 06.06.1988/04.01.2012 refill sherry hogshead#7318, 53,4%, Archives

Straw coloured

Nose:
A baked gristy note, slight alcohol burn on the nose. Some spicy winey sweetness carries through, probably the sherry cask speaking here. Freshly cut grape fruits. After a few minutes the citrus notes become more dominant as does wet oak.

Taste:
Apples and sugar jarred and shelved for a winter. Fermented garden fruits. Hints of crushed rosehip and that baked spice note from the nose again. Peppery and a dash of oriental spice mix. Finished on a little too much oak in the back of the mouth to really get this taster going...

...a very pleasant dram, nonetheless! :-)

86/100!

7 WHISKIES BOTTLED BY ADELPHI - PART VII

Glenrothes 1969 42yo 42,6% sherry hogshead#2, 297 bottles, Adelphi

Nose:
Oh, my!! The colour on this one alone! Deep mahogany. The nose hit you with dark fruits, dades, plums, raisins - incredible, just a tad of oak! ...and is that a hint of smoke I detect too?

Taste:
Coating, Old cigarbox, more raisins, crunchy chocolate orange sticks, oily finish, incredibly coating - gets into every crevice of your mouth, amaretto and espresso!

What an absolute stunner by Adelphi. This cask comes from a private stock and hopefully Alex and his team can source other casks of similar quality from this guy!

This fantastic Glenrothes finishes off this 7 part review of whiskies from Adelphi...and what a ride it has been!

The single casks from this small indie bottler are of very high quality IMHO!

They also may be on the more expensive end of the scale, but in this case I feel the extra money is often worth it!

93/100!