Glenrothes is a distillery which I have not had much exposure to. I have a 19 year old single cask which was full term in PX sherry waiting in the cupboard for an excuse to open it but none have been forthcoming.

This Glenrothes from the “Malt Whisky Company” is a relative youngster in comparison but age doesn’t always signify quality as we all know.

The Bottler

The Malt Whisky Company is a new entry into the independent bottling category having been started in 2015 by husband and wife team of Stuart and Wilman Nickerson. Stuart has a long history in the whisky industry being involved in the restart of Glenglassaugh distillery, co-founding Saxa Vord distillery in Shetland, running a consultancy and Tipperary distillery in Ireland.

There are a lot of newcomers into the bottling market but I am sure with the kind of experience and contacts the directors have they will be showing solid sales and growth after three years in business now.

The Dram

This 8 year old was distilled in 2007 before bottling in 2015 with only 162 bottles produced. At a whooping cask strength of 64.1% the angels did not get much of a share of the cask but I presume the entire barrel wasn’t emptied for this run. There is no information on the type of cask used but I suspect it was a refill sherry barrel of some kind with a price of £60

Tasting Notes

Colour – Marmalade

Nose – Notes of malty slightly doughy bread and cinnamon buns.

Palate – There is a slight toffee note and then some bitterness from a charred barrel. The malty notes from the nose also continue on into the palate. There is also a note of what we call in scotland Caramel cake which you used to get for school dinners. Its more like a shortcrust tart than a cake though.

Finish – The finish is fleeting sadly but continues on the slightly toffee/caramel theme

Final Thoughts

This is definitely a spirit driven whisky and Glenrothes spirit has a lot of character about it to make up for the limited cask involvement. At £60 I think it might be a little steep though for what is, if I am honest, a little boring.