Bought: C Gar Ltd, 5th August 2015
Ratings:
89.19/100 – Whiskybase (average from 18 member votes)
In mid-September 2015 I was chatting with a member of staff at the ‘World of Whisky’ shop in Gatwick Airport about Rosebank. He said he’d spoken to somebody ‘in the know’ that was involved in the redevelopment of the distillery. Although it was mothballed in 1993 the Rosebank buildings still exist (you can see them on Google Street View with the postcode FK1 5BX). As a collector I’m not overly happy about spending good money on a closed distillery bottle only to find out it’s opening up again. Conversely, with my drinker’s hat on it would be great news! Sadly, it doesn’t appear to be true. Arran Brewery got involved in a redevelopment plan for the distillery site in 2012 but pulled out in 2014. Whether the resulting whisky could have been called ‘Rosebank’ is debatable since I believe Diageo still own the Rosebank trademark (according to Wikipedia).
Over 89/100 on Whiskybase is a fantastic score for this 24-year-old Rosebank by the independent bottlers Gordon & MacPhail (G&M). The previous year’s release distilled in 1989 scores 87.56/100 from 11 member votes. This same bottle is reviewed by Jim Murray in his Whisky Bible 2015, which he scores 85.5/100. According to his classification that makes it a ‘very good to excellent whisky definitely worth buying’.
I’m posting this blog on the very same day that the Whisky Bible 2016 is due for release. If Jim Murray has included a review for this bottle I’ll come back to add an update. [Sadly he never did, and it’s not in the 2017 Bible either]
Whisky Den 