Glenrothes has a whole range of vintages on the market. That means the bottles didn't get an age statement, but the year of distillation, on the label. This vintage 1987 was matured for about 40% on first fill sherry casks. It was bottled in 2002 at the age of 14.
The nose is rife with young apples and even some... err... champagne. Add licquorice and something floral (violets?), some oak wood and brown sugar. Rum, raisins, apricots, honey and hazelnut. Deep and sweet nose. Impressive.
It's wonderfully creamy on the palate. Again, quite some sherry elements, but also toffee, oranges and nougat. Dried apricots in full force.
The finish is medium in length and silky soft, with wood and barley nicely balanced.
This Glenrothes is very nice, but still doesn't quite reach the Toffee Apples from Wemyss that I tasted earlier. Until further notice, that independent expression of this Speysider remains my favorite.
Sounds divine. I'd love to find a bottle of '87.