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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.

Craigellachie 13 Year

Craigellachie 13 Year

Though the village of Craigellachie may be more famous as the home of The Macallan, as well as the confluence of the rivers Spey and Fiddich, it is also home to the Craigellachie Distillery. It has generally flown under the whisky radar due to the fact that its output has always gone into blends, specifically Dewar’s (the distillery is owned by Bicardi but managed directly by Dewar & Sons). Thankfully, a few single malt expressions have been put out as part of Dewar’s Last Great Malts series, which focuses on new expressions and malts never released before. Aside from being uncompromising in taste, the distillery is also known for the use of the unique worm tubs, a call back to an earlier time in whisky production.

Arran Amarone Cask

Arran Amarone Cask

It should be no surprise to our frequent readers that we’ve tried our fair share of whiskies with different finishes. Finishing allows distilleries to impart a different set of flavors through aging the spirit in casks other than the usual ex-bourbon barrels. We’ve tried finishes with Sherry, Port, Rum, along with Shiraz, Madeira and Burgundy wines so far. We have a scotch with Cote du Rhone and Clos de Tart on the docket. Heck, the last Arran we reviewed had a Sauternes finish. Therefore, it may not surprise anyone greatly for us to be interested by this Arran aged in Amarone casks. We came by it honestly, though, through a tasting at Ace Spirit’s. The fact that the Arran Amarone stood out over several other whiskies should be enough to pique your interest, as it did ours.