The whisky blogosphere is rambling and stormy lately discussing the NAS trend that is hitting every shelf around us in the last two years. Yeah, not every NAS bottling is bad, and not all NAS are strictly young aged whisky. But even at this time and place, young whisky (aged less then 10 yo is good definition I think) can still be good – it’s up the distillation process, spirit and cask.

So today, we’ll focus on a young whisky from Glenrothes distillery, bottled by Douglas Laing. It was distilled in 2004 and bottled in late 2013, matured in a single Sherry butt. It was bottled at cask strength which is unusual for their provenance series.

So young sherry bomb? let’s see what it have in store for us

Douglas Laing Provenance Glenrothes 9 yo 2004  (61.2%, cask 10191, buy for £68.43 here)

Nose: Big Oloroso sherry notes – full house of sultanas, plums, demerara sugar, corn syrup, nutmeg (and bit of cinnamon), it’s sweet but not clogging, with some dryness. after a while, wine vinegar and young spirit notes shows up as well.

Palate: Oak wood, sweet demerara sugar, sweet red fruits, big & fierce spicy heat wave, meaty and semi-dry.

Finish: Medium length, very mild sweet oak wood with some burning impression

Conclusion: That one really rock. Young sherry bomb that behaves like aged and matured whisky. This is a novelty whisky as young and sherried Glenrothes aren’t too common out there. Slainte!

(Official sample from the Douglas Laing)