Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 55.6%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon first fill and refill
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Diageo
Average price: € 130.00
Official website: N/A
If in 2023 it was the real revelation (also in terms of taste) of the special editions, in 2024 the multifaceted Roseisle returns in a version virtually identical to its predecessor, right down to the name, with a laconic ‘second’ added to the same subtitle as last year.
The total lack of imagination in what is supposed to be a special edition is quite a disappontment, not so much for the appearance of the bottle as for the fact that it’s a photocopy of the first one: it would have been much more interesting to try the distillery with a different iteration rather than following the philosophy of ‘never change a winning horse’ (especially when the 2023 edition is still widely available).
But so be it, as long as it’s good.
Tasting Notes
Yellow fruit flow powerfully on the nose, an abundance of peach, pineapple, green apple, ripe banana and apricot spread on a custard tart, with a drop of acacia honey and a few jasmine petals. A splash of grapefruit juice, a memory of porridge and a mineral, slightly sulphurous streak in the background. Hints of cinnamon with a touch of menthol down the length. Fresh and inviting.
Black pepper and ginger flicker on the palate, while the fruity side gives way to a more acidic profile of gooseberry, unripe apple, grapefruit and yellow kiwi, with an important presence of tannin and wood, accompanied by almonds and sugar paste. Aniseed, rhubarb, liquorice root and a pushed vegetable vein mark the drink, with all the pastry side cornered to the point of almost annihilation. Along the length, a salty and slightly metallic vein emerges.
The finish is quite long and astringent, with ginger, unripe fruit, almonds, strong citrus and vegetable notes.
We are more or less in the same vein as last year, but with more acidity and wood notes, as if the refill casks had taken over, creating a pungent whisky with little inclination to sweetness. It remains pleasant but less satisfying, and hopefully will take a different direction in a hypothetical third edition.
Vote: 84/100