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Glenrothes Sherry Cask Reserve

Glenrothes Sherry Cask Reserve

The Glenrothes distillery is guided by what it calls its four corners: Water, Slow Distillation, Sherry Seasoned Casks, and Natural Color. The distillery also relaunched its brand recently, doing away with the previous method of categorizing its line and returning age statements. This is a refreshing choice given how many brands are going in the opposite direction. While the current line is mostly age statements, however, the Glenrothes Sherry Cask Reserve is from before the relaunch and, as the name would indicate, entirely aged in ex-sherry casks. It first appeared in 2014. We bought the bottle some time before this review went live, so what was once an easy introduction to a sherried single malt is now about a discontinued offering.

Balvenie 15 Year Single Barrel Sherry Cask

Balvenie 15 Year Single Barrel Sherry Cask

This Balvenie 15 year is aged entirely in an ex-Oloroso sherry butt. A butt is a type of cask standard for aging sherry, approximately 475-500 liters. Because of the larger size, there is less surface area per amount of liquid and thus the cask impact is lessened. This may be why this particular offering spends its entire life in the same sherry butt, as opposed to other releases where the sherry cask is used only at the end. Unlike other age statement single malts, which contain a variety of ages with only the youngest listed, this Balvenie is 15 years only, no younger or no older.

Glenrothes Vintage 1998

Glenrothes Vintage 1998

The Glenrothes has a way of categorizing their scotch that is markedly different than most other distilleries. Rather than bearing a standard age statement or name in lieu of one, the Glenrothes labels their offerings by the year in which the barrels were first laid down. The bottle details tell you when the scotch was bottled, letting you do your own math to figure out the age. The Vintage 1998 is from their Core Vintage line, though there are Reserve, Special Release, and Classic lines too.