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.
Distillery: Glenrothes
Region: Speyside
Age: NAS
Strength: 40%
Price: $29.98
Maturation: First-fill sherry European oak casks
Location: Rothes
Nose: Vanilla, maraschino cherry, oak, pineapple
Palate: Allspice, clove, cinnamon, sherry
Finish: Vanilla, cherry
Comments: Water is not needed. Love the unique bottle shape.
Adam – I’m not sure why I enjoy this scotch so much. There are definitely some young qualities to it, it is less integrated than it could be, and the flavor elements are not terribly complex. But I kind of feel like an asshole just writing that, because the bottle has barely been open a month and it’s nearly gone. It’s obviously doing something right. The Sherry Cask Reserve is a fun whisky, much like a summertime fling. The sherry influence is decidedly prominent to me, much more than other “sherry bombs” like Abelour A’bunadh. A lower strength means there’s no burn and doesn’t fall off anywhere into the ditches. A shame they don’t produce this anymore, because I would love to have it on hand for warm evenings out with friends, where you want to concentrate more on the conversation than the liquid but still enjoy it. It also makes a great showcase for what sherry can do to a scotch. The European oak helps add some light fruit notes too.
Jenny – The Sherry Cask Reserve dies on my tongue right away. I want more than it’s willing to give me.
If this were a perfume, it would be in the sandalwood range.
Meghan – This is a sherry bomb on the nose with lots of maraschino cherry, pineapple, and generic fruit juice. I get a lot of sherry aspects on the palate as well, along with some solid spice- clove, allspice, a touch of cinnamon. It is a very, very smooth whisky- almost too smooth such that it is hard to find the flavors that normally lurk in the corners and crevices of scotch. You can hold it in your mouth for quite a while, which helps with picking out some flavors. If you breathe out while holding some in your mouth (an expert level tasting move I know), some of the flavors from the nose come through. The oaken aspect comes back along with the cherry, a more realistic cherry flavor that what was on the nose. The finish is almost nonexistent. The whisky just kind of evaporates in a whiff of sherry. There isn’t anything particularly wrong with this whisky but it just isn’t very attention grabbing. The Sherry Cask Reserve is a scotch that requires excellent drinking comrades and engaging conversation.
Mary-Fred – If this were a perfume, it would be in the sandalwood range. It’s weighty and solid.
Ben – The same kind of earthiness from rye. There’s no dessert quality to it. It’s almost masculine. Not machismo masculine, but bold like leather crafts.
Henry – The flavors just seem blurred and indistinct. Maybe I got a little cherry or a little sherry, but it was out of focus and definition.
