Glenrothes 19 Year Old 1997 Chieftain’s

Chieftain’s is a label from Ian Macleod Distillers – who also own Glengoyne, Tamdhun Smokehead and Edinburgh Gin, to name a few. This Glenrothes from 1997 was released in 2016. Wonderful color.

Aromatic nose on blood oranges and sultana, but the dominating aroma without a doubt is butterscotch. Some freshly waxed leather, a hint of rubber boots and even a salty note. This is surprising and quite lovely.

It is pretty oily, mildly spicy and bittersweet. The spiciness translates into salt and pepper, liquorice and candied ginger, while the bittersweet notes remind me of grapefruit juice and salted caramel (sounds crazy, I know… bittersweet because of salted caramel? Moving on). Having said that, it’s a fine continuation of the nose. The tannins are there, but not disturbing.

The finish is long, sweet versus salt, with some more salted caramel.

Still to be found for some 130 EUR.

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