It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve put anything on this here blog, but there’s going to be more on that in a future post. Hopefully the near future.

This Glenrothes was bottled by the guys at Speciality Drinks Limited, and contrary to most Glenrothes’ you know, it was aged in a bourbon cask. A hogshead in this case. The general consensus among a lot of people I know is that Glenrothes makes some good whisky, but generally they sell those casks to bottlers and only bottle rather shit whisky themselves.

Of course, someone is going to think “But this one I had from the distillery itself was pretty amazing”, but most of their vintages and NAS releases are far below par. Believe me. It’s true.

So, contrary to the rather bland official releases, let’s dive in to this quite amazing dram!

Sniff:
On the nose I first got a major hit of malted barley, but there was something fresh too. Some mint, and even chocolate (After Eight, anyone?). Also some cough candy and some salmiac. After that I got oak, an increasing amount of oak.

Sip:
The palate is rather smooth, more smooth than I expected for the ABV. There’s some punch though, it’s not all velvet. Oaky and quite dry with some dried baking spices. Also some white and red pepper. Oak, mint, menthol. A bitter edge too.

Swallow:
The finish is very old fashioned, classical. Quite rich with malt, mint and oak. Quite long too.

Well, I wasn’t too sure about this when I poured it, but boy this is an awesome dram. Maybe my favorite of the bunch so far (I’ve still got two Ledaigs to go). The whisky is quite complex with lots of gorgeous flavors and scents.

Sincerely a highly recommended dram. It’s a shame I’ve been overspending on all ends, and work on the house is taking up every bit of cash I would normally have, or a bottle would have been on its way by now.

90/100

Glenrothes 1989-2016, 26yo, Bourbon Hogshead #8172, 53.8%, bottled by Single Malts of Scotland and available from The Whisky Exchange for £ 115

Thanks to Speciality Drinks Limited for sending a sample!