On Wed, 5 Nov 2003, Bart wrote:
}In article , snipped-for-privacy@efn.org says... }>
}>OK, so I can't get Lagavulin here right now, but an interesting looking }>malt just showed up here. The embossing on the bottle says "Glen Roth's" }>which I've not heard of before, nor is it in my whisky guides. The few }>bottles I've seen purport to be "sampling room bottlings", and bear }>small hand-written labels, and a 1989 date. }>
}>It occurred to me that this might be the remnants of some now-defunct }>distillery, rescued from its bonded warehouse by another distributor }>and released to the public. Or it might be a gimick. }>
}>Can anyone shead some light on what this stuff is? It's going for about }>$63 (American) for a 750ml bottle. Should I take the plunge? }>
}>Dr H } }Sounds almost like Glenrothes. Are you sure it isn't? Their bottle }design resembles a "tasting room sample bottle" and they won an award }for the design of the packaging when it was introduced, I believe with }their first '79 vintage. If it is Glenrothes, then the distillery }is still in production as far as I know. } }It's actually bottled by Berry Bros. & Rudd, but they bottle it for }the owners, so it's an official bottling - like some of the Gordon & }Macphail bottlings that are made for various distillery owners. } }Glenrothes is a delicate beautiful Speyside whisky. At its best it }is amazing, but like every distillery's product some are better than }others. I've read that it is considered "top dressing" by blenders - }it's used to add some finesse to their blends. } }There have been several vintages released in the USA, and a few more }in Europe that were not released here. I know of the 1979, 1982, }1987, and 1989 as widely available Glenrothes; there was also a second }1979 at 22 years that was recently available which was wonderful, but }was not as widely available as the other vintages. } }I can't comment on the 1989; it's the one I haven't had yet. The }others were very good. I especially liked the 1982, but MJ rates }the first 1979 higher. One thing I'll add though, is that it's the }sort of whisky where it is easy to miss just how good it is if you }don't compare it to a few similar delicate whiskies. That's where }it really shines, in my opinion. } }Bart } } }
So basically you're saying that, yes, the "tasting room sample bottle" is a gimick, but that the whisky is still worthwhile.
Your description has decided me: If it is indeed the Glenrothes of which you speak, I shall pick up a bottle this weekend.
Thanks.
Dr H