Rosebank 18 Years Old 1991 Cask #2119 – 2121 (G&M)

Gordon & MacPhail bottled this Rosebank single malt, aged 18 year old, from 1991, drawn from cask 2119 - 2121 and bottled at 55.3%. Built in 1840 at Falkirk, on the Lowland canal side, Rosebank was closed in 1993 and long mourned. Triple distillation and worm tub condensers, a pairing unique to Rosebank, gave the malt its elegant yet weighty style.

Drawn off after a third distillation and condensed slowly in worm tubs, the make took the Rosebank style. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, the classic wood for Rosebank. By this age the grassy spirit rounds into honey, citrus and marzipan. Patient maturation turns the grassy new make towards marzipan and soft tropical fruit. The malt was matured slowly in the temperate Lowland climate before bottling. 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.

Bottled at a cask strength 55.3%, it is rich. Marzipan and soft tropical fruit meet honeyed oak sweetness underneath. Beneath it run lemon, grass and a waxy weight. It finishes clean, fragrant and bright. This is spirit from the lost years of Rosebank, finite for good.