Rosebank 10 Years Old 1989 (Original Collection)

Single malt Rosebank, an independent Cadenhead's bottling, aged 10 year old, from 1989 and bottled at 46%. The outturn was 402 bottles. Founded by James Rankine in 1840 on the canal at Camelon, near Falkirk, Rosebank was brought to a halt in 1993. After closure the site fell derelict, and thieves even took the copper stills in 2008.

The spirit was triple distilled and worm tub cooled, the Rosebank way, for the refined Lowland style quite its own. A refill American oak cask held it, keeping the Lowland character to the fore. Still young, the malt is grassy and zesty with a delicate lift. Decades in oak build a waxy weight over the elegant Lowland distillate. Its final vintages of the early 1990s are among the most sought after of all Lowland malts. The malt was matured slowly in the temperate Lowland climate before bottling. Few lost distilleries are mourned, or bottled, as devotedly as Rosebank.

At an easy 46% it is gentle. Vanilla and a light cream from the barrel, with lemon and cut grass. The mouthfeel is gentle, the honey carried on a waxy body. The finish runs clean, grassy and soft. This is stock from a closed Lowland legend, ever scarcer.