Glenrothes Vintage 1985 Paired with a Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Cigar and Chuao's Dark Grignottine Bonbon

The criticality of distilleries using age statements as an indication of the quality of a given scotch expression seems to have diminished in the last several years.  As distilleries old and new release more and more amazing young spirits and the vatting of whisky stocks of multiple year vintages has become more popular, its not uncommon for a bottle to carry no age statement at all. How important really is a specific age as an indicator of quality?  Shouldn't it all really be about the flavor that is born of the maturation period regardless of the number of years?

At least one distillery has put its own twist on this age versus maturity argument.  In 1994 Glenrothes developed the notion of a declared Vintage to distinguish a line of expressions that it wanted to deem as the best of their distillery.  "Vintage" in their concept represents stock selected as best from a particular year (not necessarily each year).  The flavor character of each Vintage is unique from their core range but in keeping with the house personality.  It is special and of limited quantity.  Most important to their notion of Vintage is that the spirit would be bottled when it was ready and not according to some specified time table.  Instead of the common age statement, the label on their bottle indicates the Vintage stock selected and the year in which it was bottled. Glenrothes launched Vintage 1979 as its first release in this series.  Since that time 17 Vintage expressions have been created, 12 of which are now extinct.

The first spirits flowed from The Glenrothes stills in 1879, at the foot of the Mannoch Hills in the middle of Speyside. The Glenrothes distillery has had a long and distinctive history of being sought after by the finest blenders in Scotland.  In fact it wasn't until more than a century later that it produced and marketed its first single malt whisky, a 12 year old Glenrothes, to the public.  Today, this distillery ranks high in popularity with malt enthusiasts owing much to the stewardship of John Ramsay, Malt Master from 1994 until his recent retirement in 2009.  Glenrothes is now in the able hands of current Malt Master Gordon Motion to continue the brand's noble legacy. 

With only a handful of Glenrothes Vintages expressions still available, we chose the 1985 for this month's match.  Bottled in 2005 this expression bears the signature literally and figuratively of malt genius John Ramsay.  This elixir has the trademark freshness and creaminess of core expressions, but seems richer and slightly heavier than most of its siblings.  Glenrothes is noted for using a mix of ex-bourbon American oak and Oloroso sherry seasoned Spanish casks in its maturation process.  Their influence is evident on both nose and palate.  The aroma is splendid, of rich dried fruits soaked in bourbon.  It has those characteristic Speyside floral notes, followed by vanilla, oranges and cinammon spice.  The palate closely mimics the nose.  Fruits in rich honeyed syrup are followed by a drier note of oak, developing along with bits of orange/sherry marmalade.  The finish is wonderfully spicy with lingering fruit and oak.  (click here or picture to purchase the Vintage 1985)

Glenrothes Vintage 1985 was supremely easy to pair with the Chuao's bonbons but when pushed to decide, I liked the Dark Grignottine the best.  Carmelized slivers of almonds, pistachios and orange peel absolutely teased out the orange sherry flavors and nuttiness of the oak.  Its pleasant crunchiness delivers a contrasting texture which contributes to the wonderful overall mouth feel of this combination. You might also want to try the Picante for an entirely different experience. (click on pictures to purchase Dark Grignottine)

Once again we turned to one of the more prolific cigar manufacturers for this months matchup. With over 60 blends in the repertoire to choose from, it is easy to find one of Rocky Patel's cigars to meet your flavor preference. While one of his Vintage Series 1990 or 1992 would have fit perfectly with the lead-in to this article, it was his Olde World Reserve Blend that provided some interesting complimentary flavors to the Glenrothes 1985. (The Vintage series cigars may be appropriate for another redux to this article.)

We selected the Olde World Reserve Robusto with the maduro wrapper for this combination, as it represents Rocky Patel's first foray into the super-premium range.  Developed with the intent of melding the smooth flavor of the Vintage Series with the power of the Edge line, the resulting blend is a rich, full-bodied smoking experience.

The Olde World Reserve is a well dressed cigar with a beautiful Costa Rican maduro wrapper. The box press and the construction are excellent, and the cigar is well packed and firm. This cigar is top of the line for Rocky Patel, utilizing extra fermented wrappers to smoothly blend the many flavors. It begins with earth and leather, exhibiting a slight sweetness.  Mouth filling smooth smoke appears at the slightest draw, and is nicely aromatic.  Sweet dark fruits appear on the palate and create a rich and complex taste experience. Mid-range flavors include black pepper, chocolate, caramel and coffee. As the stick burns into the final third, dark cacao and espresso notes appear, adding more depth to the flavor profile.

The pairing with the Glenrothes 1985 is smooth, complex and elegant. On the palate, the rich dried fruits of the Glenrothes extract similar fruitiness from the OWR, and the vanilla notes soften the darker earth, leather and coffee notes bringing forward more chocolate in the smoke. A dry spicy oaky finish in the whisky lingers between puffs of the cigar, layering flavor upon flavor as cigar and malt are enjoyed together. Very enjoyable.   (Click on picture for more notes and to purchase OWR.)

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