A Little Gem from Glenrothes via MacPhail's

[jwise]

I finally succumbed to my curiosity, and finally bought the young 8yr Glenrothes whisky bottled by Gordon & MacPhail: The MacPhail's Selected Single Distilleries Collection 8yr from Glenrothes Distillery. I had seen this bottling at the local package stores for a while, but I held off as I have a real aversion to young whiskies. Having heard some decent things about this dram (both online and from salesmen), I felt the $30 entry price was low enough to warrant one more try at an 8yr (not to mention that Glenrothes is my favorite distillery!)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y95/jerrellwise/Cigars/file-57.jpg

I popped the cork at a local cigar shop I frequent, and was blown away by the nose on this youngster! Smooth, vanilla, honey and sherry came up easily, with dried fruit and dates in the background. There was just a little nose tingle, but not too much. Hint of melon, maybe honeydew?

The whisky lost nothing on the palate, delivering a smoothness that I heretofore thought was impossible from an eight year old. A bit of spice came through, but not very much. Nothing like the 1992 Vintage from Glenrothes, which is a spicy little treat! This one just delivers enough spice to keep it interesting. The whisky is not overly sweet in the mouth, but rounds out its profile with just a bit of oak. Again, this is unusual for such a young whisky to have oak and spice notes like this whisky is delivering. I'm thinking this has to be a typo, and they meant to label it "18yrs". ;)

The finish gives off more spice and oak, mostly in the back of the throat. Some sherry is evident as well, but not overly so. The finish is pretty long, releasing wave after wave of gentle spice.

I immediately texted my fellow Glenrothes-loving friend, and told him about this independent bottling. I also shared the bottle with a couple others in the cigar shop, and everyone who tasted it really enjoyed it.

This is the first independent bottling that I have enjoyed. The previous bottle was a Battlehill bottling of Auchentoshan. Never having tasted an official bottling of Auchentoshan (before or after), I don't know if it was the distillate or the bottling profile I didn't care for.

I was so surprised to be treated to such a fantastic whisky from The Glenrothes at such an affordable price! Way to go MacPhail's for putting out this fantastic malt!

[malthound]

I too, love The Glenrothes. I have recently been lucky enough to try a couple of their expressions. These were the Vintage 1991 and Alba Reserve. I really loved them! Then I tried their Select Reserve...........:( A really strong tequila note on the nose. It really turned me off.

[jwise]

I thought the Select Reserve was fantastic until I tried the 1991. Oh well... ;) The good news is that the 8yr from G&M is much better than the Select Reserve, but not up to the 1991.

[jwise]

I want to recant the above comment where I said the MacPhail's 8yr was better than the Select Reserve.

I have now tasted this whisky in several environments, at various times of the day, and after different events.

This whisky makes a decent apertif. However, once you have had a dram or two of something, do not switch to this whisky. I found it only slightly better than Cutty Sark at this point. I gave some out to some friends, and the vote was split. One person wanted nothing to do with it, while others found it to be good to very good. Personally, I found it rather inviting in the late afternoon before dinner and as a first dram.

I gave one man a tasting of:
1) Glenrothes 8yr G&M bottling
2) Isle of Jura 10yr
3) Tomatin 12yr
4) Aberlour 10yr

After tasting each, I asked which one he wanted a full pour of. He could have chosen from any of the four, and he chose the G&M Glenrothes.