If you read my random ramblings during the 18 days of the Blind tasting competition 2014, you must have noticed a sister cask was presented on day #16. That was a sister cask, one year younger, but quite the same style. Young, high ABV, sherry cask that imparted a hell lot of flavour onto the liquid. I’ve been told the 7 yo version is even nicer, and thanks to a sample from a good mate, i was able to try that for myself.
Adelphi Gelnrothes 7 yo cask #3523, 67.5%, €73
Nose: A very dark sort of sherry profile, with a lot of dark fruit, red fruit and dried fruit in the form of sultana, plum,date and also some dark chocolate, a whiff of espresso and coffee beans, and lots of spicy marmalade. This is a monster sherry, and it’s very thick and packed with flavoured. This cask was working nicely…
Palate: Boom. it’s rather massive but not overly so, considering the 67% it’s a nice surprise. You still get a spicy pepper / chilly entry, and then load of prunes and jam, a ripe orange marmalade and also smoky notes of BBQ marinade, and some cured meat, cinnamon and spent matches.
Finish: Sugars and prune jam, some smoke, and getting a little bitter with a coffee touch to it, and also cardamom.
Bottom line:
This, my friends, is a cracking young whisky. Again I find myself asking Why don’t Glenrothes bother to bottle some of that stuff at natural strength, with real flavours, and not the boring stuff they usually do (young NAS, or indistinct vintages).