The Glenrothes 12 years old

only that light kick from the sulfur disrupts the balance here. Yet it hardly detracts from the overall experience; one could argue it adds complexity to the malt. In any case, this is the trade-off when using a high proportion of first-fill sherry casks.

I’d have to disagree that sulfur is inherently present in first-fill sherry casks. I’m pretty sensitive to sulfur, so I tend to avoid sherried malts unless I’m sure they’re “clean”. And I have tasted some very clean sherried malts. But I’ll have to avoid this one, as I probably wouldn’t enjoy it. Thanks for the review.

@OdysseusUnbound not inherently present, perhaps. But in my experience, first-fill butts tend to have a higher probably of possessing that characteristic.

@Megawatt I might be wrong, but I thought that once a sherry Cask was contaminated by sulphur, it would always be present to some degree. Perhaps a whisky matured in a contaminated first fill cask would exhibit more of those characteristics. I’m not an expert in these matters, just spit-ballin’ here.