Rosebank | Whisky Lady

At any whisky fair, there is usually one absolutely unforgettable whisky that stands out! At the 2022 London Whisky Show, this Rosebank was my personal “dream dram.”

From the moment it splashed into my glass, it was magic! And I kept only the Rosebank in my tasting glass from that point onwards, redirecting any additional tasting to my companion’s glass.

So what was it about this lost Lowland?

Rosebank 21 year “True Love” 55.1% (Elixir)

Colour – Gold
Nose – Absolutely beautiful, floral, mandarin oranges, honey
Palate – Nuanced and complex, a lovely balance of light milky chocolate with a hint of spice, simply marvelous
Finish – Carried through

Exquisite! The nose was absolutely captivating! For the next hour or so as we wandered through other explorations… I kept coming back to the entrancing aromas of the Rosebank, leaving just a couple sips til the very end.

As the sun set… I drained the last drop by the Thames and considered it a proper close to a brilliant Whisky event.

What do the folks at The Whisky Exchange / Elixir have to say about this bottle?

This first release from the Rosebank Roses series is composed solely of bourbon-cask-matured whisky. It displays all the sublime fruity character for which Rosebank is famed.

The Rosebank Roses series has been created by Elixir Distillers, which previously operated under the name Speciality Drinks Ltd.

Tasting Notes:

Nose; Crisp and sweet apples mix with honeysuckle, barley sugar, cough candy and vanilla toffee.
Palate: Oaky spice and liquorice root lead to white grapes, vanilla cream and chilli-spiced white chocolate.
Finish; Peppery spice fades to leave orchard fruit more white chocolate and grassy notes.

Would I agree with the tasting notes? Certainly… Even more remarkable, two days later, the empty glass was exceptional – a joyful perfume….. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I’m very grateful for!

Is it still possible to purchase it? Yes! If you happen to have a mere GBP 15,000 lying around. Yowza! I knew it would be pricey but was completely unaware of just how rarified it has become!

My thoughts turned to an earlier Rosebank 21-year, sampled from an open bottle in Winnipeg at The Cabinet meeting in 2016. At that time, I was astounded to learn the bottle was auctioning for US$650. Fast forward 6 years and you might be lucky to find a similar bottle for US$2,000! Oh my!

This just proves my point – dream drams are just that – beautiful near-mythical creatures you rarely encounter and so appreciate those magical malty moments for what they are – dreams.

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One tradition of the Winnipeg Whisky Cabinet is to offer the guest an opportunity to chose from the open bottles an ‘appetizer’ whisky to warm up the palate for the evening goodies.

Neatly written in alphabetical order by distillery, the list was impressive with a range of affordable familiar friends to one that made me go ‘I can’t believe you have this!’

Clearly that was the one I selected…

Discontinued distilleries have a certain mystique about them. Even if not brilliant drams, the very fact that what you try today will be gone tomorrow and never to be replaced, adds a certain bittersweet element to the equation.

My past trysts with Rosebank were limited and mixed – largely as were from highly oxidated bottles that had remained on the shelf a little too long. However, a softer, more delicate dram isn’t such a bad way to start an evening… particularly if we would be continuing with a peaty theme…

What were some of the impressions from our Cabinet evening?

Rosebank 21 year (1990 / 2011), Bottle 1789 53.8%

Nose – Sweet perfume, quite herbal, drizzle of honey, yet also salty with a clear alcohol chaser, a bit of malt started to push forward
Palate – Hot and sour then mellowed into a solid yet soft whisky
Finish – Lightly citrus with little else

Overall, it had a bit of a muted “burst of sunshine” quality. It may be relatively simple yet it is well crafted. I couldn’t help but wonder how it was when first opened…

What does the bottle have to say?

Light-bodied, this pale gold 21 year old comes from a last golden age at the distillery. Soft, fruity aromas on the nose give way to a delicate, even rose-scented, floral character. The palate is tongue-tingling, clean and fresh, becoming silky with a little water before a soft, flowery sweetness and lemony acidity lead to a round, drying finish.

Here is what the Cabinet lad’s shared:

Carissa selected the Rosebank 21 year old, a lowland whisky from a now shuttered distillery. This is a fiery cask strength whisky with the classic lightly herbal and floral lowland profile backed up by a solid malt core. It is not special in that is in no way complex or exciting, but it is special in that the distillery no longer exists. We drained the last few drops from the last bottle we will likely ever have. The sensation was somewhat akin to eating a baby northern white rhino.

Just curious, I took a peak at auction prices for this bottle… which were averaging in 2016 around US$650. Far steeper than my whisky indulgence budget so I was all the more grateful to have sampled a dram courtesy of the Cabinet.

Also quaffed at the Winnipeg “Cabinet” evening:

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