Glenrothes - Official vs Indy
Quartet review: 2 OBs vs 2 IBs | Various ABV
Will Indies Always Win Out?
At a tasting recently I tried two things which I didn't like.
I knew, or rather I suspected, before I tried them that I wasn't going to enjoy two of the six drams lined up for the tasting.
One of them I had considered buying as an inaugural release recently but something put me off the idea of exactly what the inaugural would be like: so I was glad of the opportunity to try before I bought. I think that my assessment was shared widely around the room. Of the thirty people who had paid to go to the tasting, only a handful put their hand up to say they had enjoyed that dram.
The second dram I suspected that I wouldn't like was from a distillery where I have just never connected with anything. While it is new in nature, and goes about its business in a particular way, I have heard people comment that this distillery does everything right apart from the taste, which I think is a fairly accurate assessment of it.
The thing about taste is that you really have no control over what you do or don’t enjoy. In some ways I think that my taste in whisky is massively varied, I like to think it is individualistic even, but in reality I know my palate is probably aligned with various people out there and definitely overlaps with many. I am, though, very aware of having a couple of guilty pleasures, starting with Dalmore which I've admitted to in previous reviews. I have an absolute soft spot for it but I haven’t bought any for a good number of years and my bottles are getting towards fully depleted.
Much like taste in music, I think you like what you like, and just because something isn't cool, may have some colour added, or it’s chill-filtered, doesn't mean you don't enjoy the taste. You shouldn't feel you need to dislike something just because others do.
But recently, and I mean very recently, I have come to have an affinity for another brand that may be considered by some to be towards the same category. I know that anything which is below 46% has almost certainly been chill-filtered which means it isn’t as good as it could be, and having now looked at multiple line-ups of original bottlings against independent bottlings I know that time and time again the independent bottlings (where there is no chill filtering) will come out on top.
What distillery am I talking about for this review? It's Glenrothes or ‘The Glenrothes’ as I think it is branded. And what do you know about Glenrothes other than the fairly amazing shaped bottles that they use for their original bottlings? It has the capacity to pump out 5.6 million litres per year, but it has spent the majority of its existence producing malt for use in blends such as The Famous Grouse, and previously Cutty Sark, with single malt releases pretty much a side project, by volume anyway.
The first spirit in the distillery ran in December 1879 and its tale, like that of many distilleries, includes a fire and an explosion over the years. It eventually ended up as an Edrington owned distillery, a sibling to The Macallan, but that ownership was interrupted in 2010 when Edrington sold the brand (not the distillery) to Berry Bros & Rudd in exchange for the Cutty Sark blend, before then buying it back in 2017. Only to sell it to La Matiniquaise eight years later.
The style of Glenrothes in official bottlings seems to focus on sherry maturation. I don’t recall ever having seen a Glenrothes official bottling in a bricks and mortar shop, but I have seen it sparingly in bars. It seems fairly popular with independent bottlers though.
There isn’t any caramel colouring in the official Glenrothes bottlings, which is great.
Review 1/4
Glenrothes 17yo, Cadenhead's Small Batch, from two hogsheads, 2002 - 2019, 480 bottle release, 55.5% ABV
£55 paid at auction, sold out
This is a small batch release of 480 bottles coming from two hogsheads, distilled in 2002 and bottled in 2019. It’s quite a light, straw coloured dram.
Score: 5/10
Average. In a Good Way
TL;DR
Not the best effort
Nose
The nose is fresh and salty with a hint of a Biscoff biscuit and melted butter. Some orange and caramel with a bit of a grassy note.
Palate
It straight away comes across a bit too woody, but makes an instant warming impact with a creamy texture. Notes of apple, pear, bitter orange, honey and sweet shortbread fingers. A bit of chalk. A creamy vanilla sweetness with hints of allspice and nutmeg.
Texture gives a medium to thick mouthfeel that lasts a medium length and becomes a bit waxy.
The Dregs
This isn’t a special dram in any way, yet it seems to show the spirit-heavy quality of the distillery. There is complexity there but I think it is just missing something to pull it together. One conclusion could be that the Glenrothes spirit - before it goes into a sherry cask - isn’t that strong or noteworthy, but I’d be reluctant to jump to that, as my conclusion is based only on one example. The entry on Cadenhead’s website notes that this spirit needs a particularly long time to mature.
Perhaps not long enough in this case.
Score: 5/10
Review 2/4
Glenrothes 18yo, official bottling, matured in ‘sherry seasoned oak’, 43% ABV
£147 RRP, £110 paid at auction
The bottle is an amazing shape, like a glass orb, or maybe a grenade. Once nicknamed ‘La Bomba’, it feels solid and looks absolutely individualistic. Yes it is dumpy and so takes up an extra bit of horizontal shelf space, but it looks cool so I don’t care.
It came with its own wee “house” in the form of a tube with an opening that glides around in a circular manner. That packaging was discarded by me of course, but my three-year-old daughter enjoyed having a unicorn hide in it for a while.
This is only 43%, so almost certainly chill-filtered, but at least it isn’t coloured.
Score: 7/10
Very good indeed.
TL;DR
A perfect couch sipper, if a little pricey
Nose
A pleasant nose, stewed apples with oranges, raisins, prunes and a note of bubble gum and marzipan. Some sweet spiciness – cinnamon and tobacco notes. There is a whiff of parmesan cheese and a hint of Pledge furniture polish.
Palate
Straight away you notice the creamy mouthfeel which has a good intensity you would take for an ABV above 43%.
It is predictably sherried, with orange, apple, and apricot. Caramel, tobacco and honey. Liquorice and coffee grounds make an appearance along with ginger, pepper and a vague hint of desiccated coconut.
It has a thick and oily mouthfeel with a finish that is medium to long – pepper and woody notes with burnt coffee bitterness at the back end.
The Dregs
Not massively complex, and the PX influence is clearly strong, but it is a quality dram for a moment when you don’t want to have to think too deeply about what you’re having.
Score: 7/10
Review 3/4
Glenrothes Whisky Maker’s Cut, official bottling, The Soleo collection, First-fill ‘sherry seasoned oak’, 48.8% ABV
£55 paid at auction, now discontinued
This is a not insignificant step-up in terms of ABV from the 18 year old, no age statement here though so we are left guessing on the makeup. Like the 18 year old, the Maker's Cut is a sherry-matured single malt.
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
Decent and worth the price paid
Nose
The nose is good, rich, and pleasant. Fruity orange and dried fruits with vanilla and salted caramel. A bit of honey, cinnamon and ginger.
Palate
It’s a robust spirit. The fruit takes the form of burnt orange, plums, cherry and raisin. Notes of dark chocolate, cinnamon, walnuts and nutmeg. A bit of sweetness from the sherry but also a bit of coffee-like bitterness from the wood.
Mouthfeel is thick and a bit oily. It has a long, warming finish.
The Dregs
There is a trade-off here, at times I have found this a bit more complex than the 18 year old, but overall it’s less of a rounded whisky (no pun, given the bottle) and just doesn’t have that aged gravitas that an 18 year old whisky brings with it. At close to 49% it is powerful and gives a good account of itself.
Score: 6/10
Review 4/4
Glenrothes 28yo, Cadenhead's Authentic Collection, matured in PX hogsheads since 2021, 55.9% ABV
£200 RRP, £150 paid at auction
This is an outturn of 318 bottles distilled in 1997 and bottled in April 2026 – reference has it as being matured in a PX hogshead since 2021.
The colour on this looks dark, moody and molasses like.
Score: 8/10
Something special.
TL;DR
What a 28-year-old-dram should be
Nose
Lovely nose. Heavy on maraschino cherry, fresh apples, caramel and peach.
Palate
It gives you a smack to start off, with a thick, syrupy mouthfeel to match exactly how it looks. The flavour is heavy on cherries, liquorice, a bit of vanilla and toffee. Some apples. Walnuts, pepper, spice, dark roasted coffee along with tobacco and cinnamon.
Heavy, thick mouth feel with an oily nature - slightly waxy. It has a long finish with cherry, dates and caramel, but it becomes ever so slightly bitter and winey in nature and gently drying at the very end.
The Dregs
Loved this. Great dram and I have thoroughly enjoyed this. It might be a bit harsh for some on the sherry influence but the PX seems to be hitting the mark. It was verging on a 9/10 but the finish stripped it back to an 8.
For me this absolutely tastes like a 28-year-old whisky should.
Score: 8/10
The Final Dregs
I’ve enjoyed getting to know The Glenrothes as part of falling a bit down a Speyside rabbit-hole. Is Glenrothes the most flavoursome, stunning whisky you will come across? No chance. But the 18 has been really enjoyable as a couch sipper and not requiring too much thought. The 28-year-old weighs in with a bit more shock and awe and was a definite step up.
It occurred to me when doing this review that there is one thing I don’t mention, something that I personally would find helpful when I read a review. That is, to say whether or not I would buy another bottle to replace that one when it is finished, so here you go. For the 18-year-old, I really enjoyed it, not the cheapest dram but £110 seems relatively fair or just edging above what this is worth in my opinion - I would replace it at that price. The Cadenhead’s 28-year-old is a great dram and I think that £150 for a 28 year old is good, I would also buy another bottle of that. The other two, I’d happily accept a dram, but I wouldn’t bother replacing.
Tried these? Share your thoughts in the comments below. CC
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What’s your own personal top distilleries?
At the point of this article’s publication, Glenrothes doesn’t appear in the Dramface Top 40.
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Other opinions on these:
Whiskybase:
Glenrothes 17yo Cadenhead’s Small Batch
Glenrothes 18yo, Official Bottling
Glenrothes Whisky Maker’s Cut
Glenrothes 28yo Cadenhead’s Authentic Collection
Got a link to a reliable review? Tell us.
