Glenrothes 20 Year SV Cask Strength 1997
Specs
ABV: 54.5%
Age: 20 Years
Recipe: 100% malted barley. Matured in a first fill sherry butt.
Distiller: Glenrothes
Country/Region: Scotland/Speyside
Price Paid (MSRP): $176 ($220)
Tasting Notes
Nose: Loads of dark fruits: raisins, dates, figs, and black cherries. Quite dense on the nose with molasses, some mustiness, and a bit of rubber, followed by raspberry chocolate cake.
Palate: Incredibly thick and heavy, approaching the consistency of cough syrup and just barely identifiable as scotch. Raisins and dates galore here with overwhelming sherry influence. A few drops of water does a lot to open it up and reveals some lovely white pepper spice and Glenrothes’ musty malt character. These are followed by burnt caramel, leather, and oak. Overall this malt drinks well below its proof.
Finish: This finish is long and just keeps going and going. It’s really quite jammy, with lingering raisins and figs, and then more of that musty oak.
Rating: 90/100 – Incredible | An all time favorite
Pure dessert in a glass. I never knew that scotch could get this thick and gummy. I’m glad that Glenrothes has a malt with its own strong character, because this dram is dominated by sherry and a lot of other distillates would have been completely lost in the barrel. Instead there’s just enough here to stand up to it and provide some much needed contrast through notes of leather, must, and oak. Just to put the sherry influence in perspective, I poured a glass of 2019 Glendronach 18 to compare and it practically tasted like an ex-bourbon barrel next to this stuff. I’ve never tasted anything like it, but this Signatory Vintage Glenrothes is truly a next level sherry bomb.