Glenrothes with peat? Well, no, not really. But like many distillery, Glenrothes also jumped on the peaty bandwagon with the Peated Cask Reserve. It is actually Glenrothes that matured on bourbon casks, but then got a two-month finish on a Laphroaig cask. To expect a peat bomb would be a mistake, I am very much aware of that. The whisky was distilled in 1992.

Yes, it works! The nose is wonderfully sweet on appels, lemon and coconut with some vanilla and nuts on the one hand, while on the other, the peat offers a mild smokiness, some green notes like nettles and finally some new leather and nutmeg. This is surprisingly good (and to be completely fair totally unexpected).

The arrival has just enough body. But the lemon, vanilla and apples are now joined by ashes, sweet peat and quite a bit of smoke. The whole remains mild, obviously, but it is nicely balanced. This fruity Speysider got a kiss of peat smoke.

The finish is surprisingly long on spices and lemon peel, but dies a bitter death.

Very nice indeed! What a pleasant surprise.