Glenrothes "Select Reserve"

[jimidrammer]

Sent the following email to the distillery and thought I'd check with you guys, too.

[I have located distillery bottlings labeled Glenrothes "Select Reserve" with no vintage, but I can find no information about it. Could you please direct me to some tasting notes or other info about this. Thanks]

It is in the same rounded bottles as the Vintage dated bottlings. I thought I'd set the detective work in motion to see if anyone has tried it, as it is reasonably priced @ $44US and since the 1989 & 92 seem to be less stellar than older ones I wondered if this came out to replace them.

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

here we go again. Another distillery deemed it right to give us a new whisky and no information. What is all the talk about the "information society"? Keep us informed, please.

Greetings
kallaskander

[Ronnie Cox]

Dear Jimidrammer,

There's very little that gets past such informed Forum users as yourself!

Firstly, thanks you for your interest in The Glenrothes, and secondly a little bit about Select Reserve.

The Glenrothes has been in increasingly short supply as its popularity has grown hugely over the last five years. We want to offer new Vintages to whisky enthusiasts like you when we can, and also we’re looking at other selections. Hence Select Reserve; which has the signature flavours of The Glenrothes (ripe fruits, citrus, vanilla, hints of spice) and creamy texture with a fresh, youthful emphasis. Like the Vintages it’s made from the best 2% of the distillery’s output; so of course it’s really, really good.

This is quite a departure for us, as it hasn’t got a stated vintage, so we wanted to dip our toes in the water before selling everywhere, ie test marketing, and two states in the US took Select Reserve before the rest of the universe. The results of the test look very, very positive and our intentions are to release the expression more widely in due course. From October this year it’ll be rolled out, and our website - http://www.theglenrothes.com – (which is currently being updated) and Whisky Magazine, among others, will have more information at that time.

You’ll understand that we’ve got roll-out plans, which we’ll share with you as soon as we are able. In the meantime, please, don’t steal our thunder! We’ll keep you posted.

With warm regards,


Ronnie Cox

[kallaskander]

Thank you.

kallaskander

[Admiral]

My compliments to you, Ronnie!

How refreshing to have an industry "notable" come online and tell us directly what's happening in the wonderful world of malts.....particularly, when dealing with a specific distillery. Our thanks to you!

Look forward to seeing you next month!

(For those unaware, Ronnie is hosting the Gala Dinner at Australia's National Malt Convention.....see http://www.mwsoa.com.au

Cheers,
Admiral

[bernstein]

How refreshing to have an industry "notable" come online and tell us directly what's happening in the wonderful world of malts

I'll second that - thanks!

On the topic of shortages you may find this article interesting:
San Francisco Chronicle, Thursday June 23, 2005
On the rocks - Single-malt scotch shortage is double trouble for distillers, consumers
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... D97QU1.DTL

Bernie

[Deactivated Member]

An interesting article, which does support my theory that the development of "very young", "quarter cask", "no age statement", etc. have been created to fix a shortage of supply rather than to create excellent products.

I was intrigued that the article suggested the Macallan Fine Oak range was created to cover the shortage of sherry aged product. The article also suggested that Macallan sells no whisky for blending, and a 12 year old whisky takes 12 years to mature, whether it is in a bourbon cask or a sherry butt. I can't see what the Macallan was doing in the bourbon barrels at all unless they had set out with the intention of creating bourbon matured whisky. It may be that there is a shortage of used sherry butts, but that wasn't what the story said.

It must be difficult for distillers to predict 12 or more years into the future. They may well increase capacity now, 12 years too late, but who knows what demand will be 12 years from now. If trends change, we might be looking again at massive overproduction and distilleries closing.

I wonder how this will affect independent bottlers, many of whom specialize in older whiskies. Do they buy whisky when it is barrelled or do they buy it just prior to bottling? If the former, they might be OK - they may find that demand exceeds their supply, but at least they would have the same supply that they had anticipated. If, though, they buy just prior to bottling, they might find their supply dries up altogether.

As for us, the consumers... We might have to start drinking younger whiskies again - a look at bottlings from the 1970s and 1980s suggests that 5yo and 8yo used to be the norm and that 12yo+ was the luxury bracket. Perhaps we will just have to go back to that (hopefully with the tartan labels and all). Alternatively, some of us might have to get a little less sniffy about drinking fine whiskies from Ireland, the USA, Canada and beyond.

[Frodo]

Thanks for letting us know Mr Cox. I'm impressed that you'd take the time to share this with us. Thanks again...

Frodo

[bernstein]

I can't see what the Macallan was doing in the bourbon barrels at all unless they had set out with the intention of creating bourbon matured whisky. It may be that there is a shortage of used sherry butts, but that wasn't what the story said.

Nick, in this respect the above article is indeed a little bit misleading. Macallan was of course producing bourbon-matured whisky for quite a long while - intended as far as I know as a filling for their own blended whisky The Famous Grouse. There are a few bourbon-matured Macallan IB's around as well (e.g from Murray McDavid).

[jimidrammer]

Yes, thank you, Mr. Cox and I will definately be picking up a bottle as soon as possible to add to my collection. Also contemplating the 1973 vintage in the same store that has scored excellent. My track record is up to 63 different expressions and not a Glenrothes as yet, I think it's time to remedy that.

[MGillespie]

Ronnie, thanks for posting. Without stealing your thunder, could you please tell us which two states have the Select Reserve?

Mark

[Crispy Critter]

An interesting article, which does support my theory that the development of "very young", "quarter cask", "no age statement", etc. have been created to fix a shortage of supply rather than to create excellent products.

I'm willing to cut them some slack for finding creative ways to deal with a bad situation. Certainly, I've seen lots of positive reports about the Laph QC, so they, at least, seem to be doing something right. Perhaps we might see some other makers trying small casks to accelerate aging.

Which reminds me, I have a bottle of QC I need to open, along with a Laph CS to compare it with.

As for Very Young Ardbeg, I'll probably never see it on this side of the Atlantic; we'll have to wait for the "new" 10yo, since VYA's supplies are being limited to avoid cutting into stocks. From what I've read about VYA, it sounds like it'll be well worth buying once it hits its tenth birthday and I can finally get the Glenmorangie-era product here.

Alternatively, some of us might have to get a little less sniffy about drinking fine whiskies from Ireland, the USA, Canada and beyond.

Nothing wrong with that, either. I've loved the Irish whiskeys I've tried - and if you like peat, I heartily recommend the Connemara bottlings.

There are lots of good offerings on the bourbon side of the aisle, and some are surprisingly cheap. Even limited, super-premium bottlings like Stagg are reasonable next to comparable Scotches. Of course, prices might get topsy-turvy once an ocean crossing is involved.

I'm not familiar with Canadian whiskies other than the Forty Creek offerings, but I'll probably try out a Wiser's soon, and maybe some others as well.

The Japanese distillers have an opportunity here as well; I've only seen Yamazaki in stores here, but maybe we'll start to get some Nikka, Yoichi, or Hakushu as well. Yamazaki 12yo is very reasonable and quite good.

[Lawrence]

As for Very Young Ardbeg, I'll probably never see it on this side of the Atlantic

It is available in the US already, I have bought three bottles from a supplier in Oregon, I can put you in touch if you like.

[Admiral]

. Also contemplating the 1973 vintage in the same store that has scored excellent.

A delicious drop the '73, and one I can thoroughly recommend.

Not that I'm biased at all, but it's been my personal experience that many things that came into this world in 1973 turned out to be good!

Cheers,
Admiral

[JimHall]

Dear Jimidrammer,

so we wanted to dip our toes in the water before selling everywhere, ie test marketing, and two states in the US took Select Reserve before the rest of the universe.

Ronnie Cox

Ronnie thanks for that information which is very informative.
Could we expect a similar price to the one offered to our cousins in the U.S ?

[Deactivated Member]

. Also contemplating the 1973 vintage in the same store that has scored excellent.

A delicious drop the '73, and one I can thoroughly recommend.

Not that I'm biased at all, but it's been my personal experience that many things that came into this world in 1973 turned out to be good!

Cheers,
Admiral

I had my first drink in 1973. That seems to have turned out okay, although it has been a long, tortuous route!

[MGillespie]

I had my first drink in 1973. That seems to have turned out okay, although it has been a long, tortuous route!

It took that long to get through your system? Sounds like it's time to see the urologist!

Mark