Rosebank 21 Years Old SMS The Roses Edition 7 (Speciality Drinks Ltd)

This Rosebank was from the independent bottler Speciality Drinks Ltd, aged 21 year old, and bottled at 50.3%. Only 975 bottles were released. Established in 1840 beside the Forth and Clyde Canal, Rosebank was shut by its owners in 1993. Rosebank distilled again from 2023, yet this is spirit from the closed era.

It was distilled three times and passed through traditional worm tub condensers, to build the floral, grassy malt blenders prized. A Madeira cask lent raisin and a caramelised sweetness to the floral spirit. By this age the grassy spirit rounds into honey, citrus and marzipan. The light triple distilled base lets cask character show clearly even after long years. 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.

At cask strength 50.3% it is full bodied. The Madeira lends raisin, brown sugar and a caramelised note, and a gentle vanilla and coconut from the wood runs under gooseberry and fresh grass. A beeswax and a tropical fruit give it real depth. The finish runs clean, grassy and soft. This is stock from a closed Lowland legend, ever scarcer.