A.D. Rattray Glenrothes 1997 Bourbon Hogshead #717972 / 54.1% ABV (£230). A 24 Years Old (a magic number in my books!) matured in Bourbon Hogshead and limited to 261 bottles.
Appearance: Golden straw in colour. A decent swirl line forms, together with a viscous film and many medium/thick legs creating a coorugated effect around the glass. The swirl line beads after time with some teardrops.
Nose: Confectionary sweet shop sugars, pear drops and faint lemon sherbert. Lovely friendly start! Strawberries and cream sweets now.
Palate: Wow, beautifully oily and luxurious mouthfeel. Slightly more spicy than the nose would suggest and there’s a definite salinity. A chilli bite tingles on the tongue, along with some liquorice and (a new one for me) fresh tomato juice. Lemon drizzle cake.
There’s a nice chest warming now, a good winter dram.
Finish: Chocolate, chilli tingle, cracked black pepper, slight copper and tomato juice. A decent long finish too.
Overall: With a friendly sweet nose, decent spiced warmth on the palate and a chocolatty peppery finish, it’s a pretty complete dram. Very nice indeed!
