Glenrothes 23 Years Old 1997 Cask #16557 (Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers)

Càrn Mòr is the independent bottling brand of Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers, an Aberdeen based firm with roots in the Morrison family's Scotch industry involvement stretching back to the 1850s. The Celebration of the Cask range presents single casks at natural strength under direct cask identification. This Glenrothes 23 Years Old, distilled in 1997 and bottled in 2020 from cask 16557 at 58%, runs to 550 bottles released into European markets.

Twenty three years in a single Oloroso cask sits firmly in the long extractive window for sherry maturation. The cask's first fill activity has tapered, with secondary extractions of lignin and hemicellulose leading: syringaldehyde, vanillin and eugenol alongside furfural from hemicellulose chemistry. The residual Oloroso sherry's sotolon contributes the savoury walnut backbone that distinguishes long aged sherry, and ellagitannins have structured the spirit through accumulated cask interaction.

On the nose, fig and raisin sit with polished oak and a faint medicinal lift, the cask's accumulated chemistry forward with an unexpected antiseptic note threading through. The palate moves through chocolate orange, dried prune and developing rancio at 58%, with European oak's tannin grip closing tight around the spirit. The finish runs long and resinous, the cask holding the spirit's Speyside character in tight balance against the accumulated oxidative depth.