Glenrothes 26 yo 1989 Single Malts of Scotland 2016, cask #8172

Indie Glenrothes are usually very nice, as opposed to most OBs (save a few) which are mostly uninteresting NAS , pumped with Caramel and tasting like toffee candy. It’s quite sad what’s going on with the Glenrothes releases, but thank goodness for IBs, right? When I think about an IB Glenrothes, I usually think about young sherry monsters such as the very popular Adelphi releases (like this), aged 6 / 7  years, but boasting amazing flavors and big big sherry. This , however, is not such a whisky. Although it’s an IB, but it’s quite old, and has been aged in a refill hoggie, meaning flavours will not be as pronounced, but since it’s an older cask, I’m hoping for some more complexity …

Glenrothes 26 yo 1989  Single Malts of Scotland 2016, refill hogshead #8172 , 53,8%

Nose : red apple skins, vanilla, stewed apricot, and apple crumble mini cakes, coconut and some sweet syrup, ginger and more sugar. Quite rich and honeyed. Not a bad start!

 Palate : sweet, oily and thick Ruth heavy golden syrup, stewed apples, white pepper, ginger bread and a nutty feeling as well. Some wood tannins, earth and musty wood, caramel cakes and toffee bars, and more pepper along with blood orange. Good balance and lovely deep mouth feel.
 
Finish : dark chocolate, cocoa and a touch of sweet syrup, bitter oak.

A very lovely whisky indeed, nice fruitiness and some nice oak to balance it all. Not the Best Glenrothes of all time, but certainly a worth considering as a nice example for well aged Glenrothes. Sadly it seems to have sold out already on the TWE site.

Score: 88/100

 

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