Glenrothes 21 Year Old 1997

Glenrothes 21 Year Old 1997 – The Whisky Broker

My whisky consultant pointed me in the direction of The Whisky Broker… funnily enough they had some offers on, “buy a bag of Space Raiders and receive a bottle of the Galloway Series Glenrothes 21 year old for free!!”

So I did.

This isn’t the first independent bottling from the Glenrothes Distillery, there have been more, this one seems to have almost beceome a benchmark…rightly or wrongly (but hey, it’s about what I love that matters..):  Claxton’s Glenrothes 1997 – 19 Year Old

The Whisky

REGION: Speyside
DISTILLED: 30/09/1997
BOTTLED: 21/02/2019
CASK TYPE: Oloroso Sherry Butt till 27/09/2017  – then an Oloroso Sherry Hogshead
STRENGTH: 55.8% vol.
CASK NO: 15128

When I open new bottles (occasionally these days…) sometimes I am filled with excitement, and sometimes some apprehension too.  I think of course this is because I have had other bottlings that were utterly and completely “right up my street!!”

The nose had hints of milk chocolate, and a little tobacco. A fleeting minty freshness.

It had hints of coffee, followed by dried fruits and a slight hint of orange. There was a little candle wax. There’s a little aroma from the pages of the old book that’s open next to me, you know? Plus a little soft brown sugar, and the teeniest pinch of nutmeg.

The palate delivers an oaky peppery warmth initially. The dried fruit is there, a little nuttiness in the background. There’s a hint of liquorice (think imps..) it’s got a hint of oak tannins too. But for me there was just something missing…

The finish is spicy with some fruits remaining.

It has actually been quite a while since I wrote these notes, so I feel another pour is on the cards.

Just Thinking

We all know that whisky can be about the way we are feeling when we sit down with it. Were we in a happy place, and all felt/ feels good in the world? Was it the day you bumped your car, were you feeling low? Did you have the sniffles etc. etc?

Well just as I arrived back earlier, I poured myself another dram of this, just to see if anything has changed against my initial thoughts…