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The Glenrothes 12 years old

A rich sherried Speysider

3 387

@MegawattReview by @Megawatt

18th Aug 2019

1

  • Nose
    24
  • Taste
    22
  • Finish
    20
  • Balance
    21
  • Overall
    87

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

Nose: immediately full and rich with massive fruit and oak. Luscious berry and melon, as well as enticing cinnamon spice. Grape. Orange peel. Quite dessert-like. Simply lovely.

Taste: sweet and fruity to start, quickly becoming spicy as oak grips the tongue. Quite thick mid-palate before a slight sourness kicks in, along with a hint of sulfury smoke.

Finish: long, with tannins from both the wood and the sherry lingering.

Balance: only that light kick from the sulfur disrupts the balance here. Yet it hardly detracts from the overall experience; one could argue it adds complexity to the malt. In any case, this is the trade-off when using a high proportion of first-fill sherry casks. A decadent malt overall.

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3 comments

@OdysseusUnbound
OdysseusUnbound commented

only that light kick from the sulfur disrupts the balance here. Yet it hardly detracts from the overall experience; one could argue it adds complexity to the malt. In any case, this is the trade-off when using a high proportion of first-fill sherry casks.

I’d have to disagree that sulfur is inherently present in first-fill sherry casks. I’m pretty sensitive to sulfur, so I tend to avoid sherried malts unless I’m sure they’re “clean”. And I have tasted some very clean sherried malts. But I’ll have to avoid this one, as I probably wouldn’t enjoy it. Thanks for the review.

4 years ago 2Who liked this?

@Megawatt
Megawatt commented

@OdysseusUnbound not inherently present, perhaps. But in my experience, first-fill butts tend to have a higher probably of possessing that characteristic.

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

@OdysseusUnbound
OdysseusUnbound commented

@Megawatt I might be wrong, but I thought that once a sherry Cask was contaminated by sulphur, it would always be present to some degree. Perhaps a whisky matured in a contaminated first fill cask would exhibit more of those characteristics. I’m not an expert in these matters, just spit-ballin’ here.

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

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