A special feature of Paris Whisky Live 2022 for me is to explore La Maison du Whisky’s Artist Series #12.

After the delightful Clynelish and the curious Benrinnes, it was time to follow-up with something more predictable – a classic Sherry bomb with The Glenrothes. Known for its love afair with sherry, this Speyside distillery is typically rich, robust and indulgent, a style where often less is more enjoyable.

Glenrothes 25+ year (1995/2022) 1st Fill Sherry Cask No 6983 55.5% (LMdW Artist Collection #12) 448 Bottles. Eur 795

• Nose – Delicious older fruits, rich dried figs – a clear full sherry, chased by chocolate and red currents
• Palate – Heavy, mature, tobacco, slightly imbalanced
• Finish – Resinous

This was a heavy, dark, rich dram… at approx 27 years, it packed a punch. With a simple sniff and swish, I wouldn’t even presume to have captured all the facets of this whisky so, instead, turn your attention to what the folks at LMdW have to say (courtesy of how Google translate)….

• Nose : Rich, unctuous. With a pure classicism and radiant beauty, the initial nose reveals notes of dried fruit (date, fig), chocolate, black liquorice and camphor. Allowed to breathe, orange zest, heady flowers (lily, iris), caramel and sweet spices (cinnamon, ginger) form an olfactory sequence of great depth. As a highlight, red fruits (strawberry, raspberry) nuance the aromatic palette with their scarlet tones.
• Appearance : Orange copper
• Mouth : Rich, very balanced. Marked by a very nice apricot and roasted rancio (coffee), the attack in the mouth is very much like malted barley. Gourmet (porridge, coffee éclair), the mid-palate invites you to revel in juicy white peaches. The slightly rough skin of these peaches brings a lot of smoothness to the taste palette. Radiant and mature, on the chromatic level, the end of the mouth has taken on very beautiful brown hues (tobacco, carpet of dry leaves).
• Overall : Long, finely tannic. At the start of the finish, flavors of currants go perfectly with malted barley grains. Juicy (squeezed orange) and at the same time caramelised, the aftertaste lingers on with notes of curry and grated ginger. Finely woody, the retro-nasal olfaction also reveals a subtle fruitiness (wild strawberry). The empty glass is empyreumatic (burning cigar), cocoa and floral (hyacinth, peony).

What an interesting experience however I had no idea this Glenrothes was retailing for Eur 800 – yikes!

If you don’t want to miss a post, why not follow Whisky Lady on:

• WordPress https://whiskylady.co/
• FaceBook Whisky Lady India – https://www.facebook.com/WhiskyLadyIN 
• Twitter @WhiskyLadyIN