Dewar Rattray ‘Individual Cask Bottling’ Glen Scotia 1992 (17 year old) 59.4%
First Fill Sherry Butt No1 (part)/ Dist: Mar 1992 Btl: Oct 2009/ Tasted: Nov 2009
A big, luscious, leafy, sherry nose. A monster – yes! But….. The complexity and expansiveness of the cask along with the cleanliness is stunning. Pure Colombian with a rum like note, green olives, brandy butter, lavender, burnt toffee, chocolate coated raisins. Ok, so the distillery character is pretty swamped but it tries to fight back with a touch of brine and peat.
The palate is no surprise all cask. Leafy and tannic with liquorice, and coffee flavours to begin. A coastal astringency appears on the mid palate before the alcohol kicks in. However the fun is not curtailed. Dried Armagnac-esque fruit, sweet toffee, Christmas cake and a shed load of raisinated fruit sweep in. Superb purity. Stunning length with hints of cocoa powder on the finish.
Water doesn’t change the nose very much, maybe it’s slightly oiler and not so complex. The same goes for the palate, so again I would opt to take it neat. Hang on! Some peat has just wafted in! Ahh, now I’m getting the coal scuttle licking finish! Like I have said a hundred times before. For a sherry cask to get me excited it has to be good………. And this is!
Dewar Rattray ‘Individual Cask Bottling’ Glen Scotia 1977 (23 year old) 57%
Sherry Hogshead 985/ Dist: Apr 1977 Btl: May 2010/ Tasted: Aug 2010
Big, and juicy. These aromas are more Gascony than Campbelltown. A seriously complex nose of dried fruit – figs, prunes and raisins. This is definitelyArmagnac! However there is a gorgeous, earthy, salt encrusted venerable honey strata of phenomenal depth. This is so deep and so good it’s frightening. All rounded off with soft, gentle dried coriander, dry heather and a smidgen of liquorice.
Succulent, gentle and venerable. There’s no shortage of dried raisins, figs, runes along with hints of old walnuts and spices to die for. This is followed by a short, piquant burst of alcohol before on we go into mature honey and treacle toffee laced old exotic fruits. Good grief, this just keeps going on and on until it signs off with a tobacco/ coffee finale. Stunning, absolutely stunning and absolutely no need for water.
Dewar Rattray ‘Individual Cask Bottling’ Glen Scotia 1992 (19 year old) 59.6%
Sherry Butt No 2 (part)/ Dist: Mar 1992 Btl: May 2011/Tasted: Jun 2011
A gorgeous dark, mature, mellow sherried nose of walnuts seeped in prune juice with hints of liquorice, Seville orange, bog myrtle, light peat, malt extract assam tea and pure Tate & Lyle golden syrup. Seriously complex and very sumptuous.
The palate is soft and lusciously endowed opening like the nose with seeped walnuts as the oily tannins and alcohol builds. Wonderfully mature sherry, possibly PX, all dark, rich and malty with a maritime twist. Quite leafy and herbal on the middle with no shortage of malt extract. Great length with hints of bitter chocolate in the finish.
With a drop of water the nose displays more of the coffee, aged rancio and mellows the palate into a wonderful morass of gentle, yet robust mature walnutty, malty sherry. Another stunning cask of Glen Scotia!
Whisky According to Chris Whiskyman 