Rosebank 16 Years Old 1989 (Original Collection)

This Rosebank was from the independent bottler Cadenhead's, a 16 year old Lowland malt, from 1989 and bottled at 46%. The outturn was 372 bottles. Rosebank, first established in 1840 on the canal at Camelon, near Falkirk, was brought to a halt in 1993. It grew into the most cherished of Lowland names.

The spirit was triple distilled and worm tub cooled, the Rosebank way, for a light, ester rich spirit with unusual body. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, lending honey and vanilla under the grass. Past a decade and a half the florals deepen into honey and soft tropical fruit. Long, cool Lowland maturation lets the floral spirit take oak slowly over many years. Few lost distilleries are mourned, or bottled, as devotedly as Rosebank. Laid down before 1993, this is spirit from a distillery silent for three decades. History on the site runs back to the Stark brothers in 1798, before Rankine's 1840 distillery.

At 46% it is clean and elegant. Vanilla and a light cream from the barrel runs under gooseberry and fresh grass. A beeswax and a tropical fruit give it real depth. The finish is elegant, waxy and tropical. This is a piece of Lowland legend in the glass.