Glenrothes American Oak 1995 21yo
Official Release | 45% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Nostalgia has its merits, Q.E.D.
When indie releases almost always outclass official releases…
…it’s good to stumble on an official release that’s dripping with quality.
I’m at an age where I should be allowed to complain (or rather be pardoned for doing so) that everything used to be better ‘back in my day’. I’m not yet too deep into old man territory (something worth aspiring to though, I’m sure), but many moons have certainly passed since I could have been described as a strapping young lad.
As everyone who has ever been a teenager knows: the years between your 12th and 26th or so anniversary are, by and large, the best era ever. Music, movies, books, art, fashion, and everything else that makes life worth living were definitely better when you were young and restless, especially when such utter crap came after it.
In my case, this might actually even be close to the objective, measurable truth. You see, I grew up in the 90s, and I was about 13 years old when bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Metallica and Guns n’ Roses were on top of the world. The first-ever festival I attended had bands like Rage Against The Machine, Primus, The Breeders, Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, and Stone Temple Pilots on the bill, all during the afternoon and early evening—Front 242 and Iggy Pop were headlining.
In 1995, we would go to the cinema and watch movies like Seven, Heat and La Haine (granted, there was also Waterworld) and listen to albums by Radiohead, Oasis, AND Blur, PJ Harvey, Leftfield, Aphex Twin, and The Chemical Brothers. Tip of the iceberg. 1995 was also the year I teamed up with likeminded souls to start a band — the start of some lifelong friendships. What an era to be discovering life!
Nostalgia is a weird thing, however; we tend to erase the less pleasant stuff from our internal hard drive. I’m fairly sure 16yo Earie also got his heart broken once or twice, and, lest we forget, 1995 was also the year of the Oklahoma bombing, the Srebrenica massacre, the First Chechen War, the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. This is just to illustrate that people who claim everything was better in the old days are talking bollocks.
However…
In 1995, Glenrothes was also run by Britain’s oldest wine and spirit merchant, Berry Brothers & Rudd, who had introduced it as a single malt just the year before. I say ‘run’, not ‘owned’, because they didn’t exactly ‘own’ the distillery. Rather, they ‘leased’ it in some way or another from Edrington, who, in the form of Highland Distilleries Co., owned it. The distillery, that is, but not the brand. The Glenrothes brand — to make things simple and clear — was then sold to Berry Bros. & Rudd (BB&R for short) in 2010 as part of a deal involving the sale of The Cutty Sark brand to Edrington, who in turn rebought the brand in 2017 from the wine and spirits merchant, reuniting brand and distillery. I do hope you’re keeping track.
Now Glenrothes has never reached the stage of whisky stardom, at least not in the way the Macallans, Ardbegs, and Springbanks of the world have. What they have gained, though, is a rather dedicated fanbase who were very into the whole vintage releases approach under the BB&R management. And the philosophy behind the idea — to release a batch of whisky when it was ready, rather than sticking to a predetermined age statement — makes good sense in my opinion. The cool bit being, you would get information-based branding and marketing involving information about the dates and the cask use rather than meaningless flannel. And while you could argue that this was made void in a way by releasing at the whisky at 43% ABV and after chill-filtering, I do feel a bit of clemency is due here. It was, in a way, a different era, where the standard policy for many official releases would have been to add colour and bottle at 40% ABV — two things Glenrothes’ vintage series luckily stayed well clear of.
“What is currently being bottled is lacking character and is miles away from the often very good releases from indie bottlers, where Glenrothes’ signature character is allowed to shine.”
Much to the shock and horror of many dedicated Glenrothes fans, things did change when Edrington took back full control of Glenrothes after 2017. They dropped the vintage releases altogether to make way for a new core range of both NAS and age-stated releases. All of these, bar the 18yo, are bottled at 40%, and use — personal opinion here — loud, unappealing colours in the branding. A significant price increase adds insult to injury. As a consequence, there was little if not nothing left to sway any self-respecting enthusiast into giving the brand a second thought.
Not that anyone at Edrington will lose a minute of sleep over this, as they did succeed into making a commercial success of Glenrothes, positioning the brand in UK and international markets alike, surfing the wave of the single malt boom!
Review
Glenrothes American Oak, 1995 vintage (21yo), 45% ABV
£120+, auction only
From an enthusiast’s perspective, the current Glenrothes marketing seems like an opportunity gone begging. I’ve tried both the ‘new’ 10yo and 12yo core range expressions, and while not entirely flavourless, what is currently being bottled is lacking character and is miles away from the often very good releases from indie bottlers, where Glenrothes’ signature character (driven by lush caramel and buttery tones) is allowed to shine like the star it is. From my experience, it’s in many ways a classic Speyside distillery: soft and gentle, but also rich and layered, without being overly complex or difficult, with that buttery note helping it to stand out from the rest.
Now I’m fully aware that indie bottlers are often the obvious choice if you want a truly gripping and engaging expression from any given distillery, but in the case of Glenrothes, I can’t but feel the current official releases are downright massacring any distinctive character in order to make it as generic and inoffensive as possible to cater for the supermarket customer. And while that’s absolutely a valid choice, I can’t help moaning a bit about it.
Nose
Vanilla and butter; lots of melted, caramelised buttery goodness even. Spices: ginger(bread) and nutmeg, toffee and toffee apples, fudge, oranges, and soft pepper. Nothing complex — just very sweet, rich and inviting. Add a few drops of water and the fruity and vanilla notes jump straight out of the glass.
Palate
Pretty much all of the nose returns on the tongue, although the darker and deeper notes are more outspoken now. The wood, spice, caramel, and fudge have the upper hand, while the fruity and buttery notes are pushed back a bit. 21 years in oak vessels leave a mark. Quite good in its own right, but the magic happens with added water (a few drops suffice!). Immediately, the balance is restored and those sweeter, softer notes are in near perfect harmony with those deep and dark flavours, while the mouthfeel becomes an absolute feast, with a lovely mixture of viscosity and oaky dryness. A last surprise is saved for the finish, when a downright explosion of oak echoes on and on.
The Dregs
I feel this particular release is an interesting one. I’m fully aware most of you will never cross paths with this — as this was bottled and released in 2017, it has that ‘last of the Mohicans’ thing going for it. A last wave goodbye by BB&R, dripping with an almost prophetical ‘miss me yet?’ quality. I’m not suggesting everything went sideways from then on, but then again, I sort of am.
Fun/frustrating little fact: when this was released 5 years ago, the RRP was somewhere around £70. For a 21yo single malt. Let that sink in for a bit and perhaps realise that some things were indeed better ‘back in the day, after all...
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. EA
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