Glenrothes 1966-1998 - 31 Year Old - SMWS 30.25 - Liquid Mahogany

INFORMATION

Glenrothes 1966 - 1998. 31 Year Old. Bottled by The Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Society cask number 30.25. Liquid Mahogany. 70cl. One of 472 bottles. 50.6%. 88.5 Proof.

From the archives: When the noisy neighbours have gone and the kids are fast asleep, pull this bottle out and pour a glass of liquid mahogany. From the distillery that is not in Fife, this is a superlative, aged whisky - there are few casks or malts that can take 31 years locked together without major disharmony.

At first you will find the obvious, warm notes of dried fruits, vanilla fudge and dark sugar. But with time you will also find a delicate orange blossom layered over the richer, sweeter aromas. This can be sipped slowly, without water. With water but just a touch) you will find orange spices and cloves. If you really want to go to town then buy another bottle for the cake.

Despite being bottled in September 1998, this was part of the Winter release in 2000, issue 88.

DISTILLERY:Glenrothes

DISTILLERY STATUS:Working

Bottle ABV:50.6% / 88.5 Proof

Bottle SIZE:70cl / 700ml

Bottle PRODUCED:472

BOTTLER:The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

SPIRIT TYPE:Scotland

LIMITED EDITION:yes

CASK NUMBER:30.25

CASK TYPE:Single Malt

REGION:Speyside

DISTILLED YEAR:1966

BOTTLING DATE::1998

AGE:31

Glenrothes is a much-loved Speyside distillery with a couple of notable claims to fame, namely that it was the keystone malt for Berry Bros & Rudd’s Cutty Sark blend from its launch in the 1920s and in the 1990s became the first distillery to specialise in vintage single malt releases. 

Founded in 1879, Glenrothes was expanded three times between 1963 and 1989, bringing the total number of stills to ten with a hefty production capacity of over 5.5m litres per year. The spirit seems to perform best with medium to long term maturation in sherry casks.

After sporadic old vintage releases in the 1970s under Highland Distillers (later fully acquired by Edrington), Glenrothes launched a core range of vintage single malts in 1994. A string of terrific vintage releases followed, including some astonishing 1960s casks. Although the vintage range has now been dropped, Glenrothes is remarkably consistent - just about any sherried release over 15 years old is likely to be terrific whisky.