Another single cask bottling from Canmore, the whisky series from Charles Edge in London.
Glenrothes is one of those distilleries that I find very uninteresting in regard to their official bottlings (and yes, there’s amazing old stuff, I mean the core range). However, a lot of independent bottlings have proven to be very worth wile. As in, one of the most recent additions to my collection is a nice 19 year old sherry cask from Claxton’s.
This one, though, is from a bourbon cask. Contrary to all five whiskies in their core range. I believe there was the Alba Reserve some years ago, but virtually everything else is a sherry cask. So, interesting from that regard!
Sniff:
A very grain forward and green Glenrothes. A very Glen Elgin like whisky, to be honest. Mossy, with ferns and some minerals. Not something I’ve ever had in a Glenrothes, as far as memory serves.
Sip:
Dry with green hints of moss and ferns. A bit of bite with hints of white pepper. There’s oak shavings, barley and straw.
Swallow:
A long finish with lots of green, spirity notes. Quite intense and a bit more harsh than expected. Some oak shavings.
It’s interesting to have a spirit like this, because it’s so unlike almost all Glenrothes out there. In a way it’s just a lot of spirit notes, but I can’t shake the feeling that the cask has done some strange magic here too.
Having said that, it doesn’t taste like it was done. By that I mean it tastes like it’s been bottled too young, with the wood and spirit just starting to get used to each other. The spirit notes are mostly alcohol driven, and that’s not overly great, even at just 10 years old.
80/100
Available in the UK for £ 58