No, NOT the one in Fife

A number of club members were invited to a select tasting of Glenrothes malts the night after Ralfy’s Rumba. In fact out of an audience of 18, 14 had the right to wear gwc T-shirts (if we ever get round to getting them).
Our charming host for the evening was Ronnie Cox, the urbane Ambassador of The Glenrothes, who regaled us with tales of tastings from near and afar.
We sampled some new make to a backdrop of a PowerPoint presentation, learned the still house is known as The Cathedral, and moved on to The Select Reserve, which lays out the distillery’s house style - juicy citrus, ripe fruits, creamy vanilla and hints of complex spice.
Next up was the ’94, soft, fruity, and again with that citrus bite, then the ’91 – a ‘conversation dram’ perfect for that post-prandial period. A rich and creamy 85 was next – a great pudding whisky. The last dram of the evening brought simultaneous cheers and boos - a 1966 vintage, which was (unusually) NOT claimed by the England World Cup winning team (I pale just at the typing of those words). The whisky was bottled in 2003 and the cask gave up 700-odd bottles. Retailing at around £1300, the single cask first fill sherry had a strong treacle nose and was woody yet lively with lots of ripe red fruits.

It was a pretty good tasting and one or two members admitted Glenrothes was a quiet favourite. We can all shout about it now.