The Glenrothes 33yr 1972 distillation (Signatory) Cask Strength, Cask #12368 549 bottles made. 56.6% ABV

This is one of the Master of Malt sample size orders from the UK.

The nose reveals light fruits, beautiful complexity, very smooth, very mature. It makes me want to taste it. Very complex nose.

The taste reveals a nice little kick, some heat. Very rounded. Very complex. Heat subsides and then the sides of the tongue pick up slight flavor. More nutty than anything. Does not taste as old as it is. Slight bitter.

2nd tasting …. same taste, top of tongue nothing, walnuts finish, some wood. No sweetness. Slightly salty.

After water is added…… still complex nose. Candies come out with water… just slightly. Carmel, walnuts again. An excellent and unusual dram.

I turned to some outside blog notes from http://www.whiskynotes.be for some outside opinion on this one.

I was glad to see they also found an unusual aspects to this whisky, I was doubting my own palate but found their reviewing experience similar yet they had more exacting notes. The one thing that they brought up was beeswax. I’ve chewed beeswax as a kid since my dad had a hobby honey bee hive that complemented our suburban garden, and concurred with the taste.

This isn’t a whisky I would go purchase but appreciate it because it shows me a very different expression than that I’m use to from The Glenrothes.

14 January 2013

I’m tasting this again after some time. The only thing different about tonight is that I let it breathe for about an hour, due to an unexpected event, and revisited it. I still concur with my earlier notes and actually find this to be more pleasing this time. Not sure if it was due to the breathing or just having a more mature palate. You can still find this on some websites for around $400 USD. If you are a big Glenrothes fan it could be that special bottle you’ve been waiting for!

Cheers!