Day 23 - KWM 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar - Roseisle 12 Year 2023 Special Release
Posted on December 23, 2024
Day 23 - Roseisle 12 Year 2023 Special Release
by Evan
Day 23 in our 2024 KWM Not An Advent Calendar brings us another distillery first! Say hello to the Roseisle 12 Year 2023 Special Release!
Roseisle is a very young distillery, but it is by no means a craft or quaint, tiny operation like many other young distilleries. It is an absolute behemoth owned by Diageo. It is the very model of a modern major distillery. Costing 40 million pounds to build, it opened in 2010. Right from the get-go, Roseisle’s annual alcohol output of 12.5 million litres made it the biggest malt distillery in Diageo’s portfolio. It also became the second-largest malt distillery by production in Scotland. Only Glenfiddich’s output eclipsed it at that time. In the nearly fifteen years since, Glenfiddich has gotten even larger, and it has been joined at the top production level-wise by Glenlivet. Both are now followed by the giant and latest Macallan Distillery which opened in 2019, with Roseisle now sitting fourth in production per annum, just ahead of Ailsa Bay and Glen Ord Distilleries.
A distillery started by the largest spirits maker in the world is going to work with a thoroughly different set of resources and goals. There was no need to produce gin or vodka or other spirits to fill the three-year plus gap that whisky production is on. Diageo was not forced to release a bunch of young Roseisle single malt to recoup costs. Whisky fans didn’t get a chance to taste Roseisle’s first single malt until the whisky we are tasting today was released in 2023. That’s right – this 12-year-old is the first official bottling of Roseisle Single Malt Scotch ever.
(Fort McMurray's Whisky Heathens discuss the Roseisle 12-Year-Old 2023 Special Release on YouTube)
Beyond Roseisle’s parent company having the finances to be patient, the reason it took this long for the first Single Malt Scotch release was also because that was never the distillery’s real purpose. Diageo built this massive distillery to provide single malt for their blends first and foremost, and that shows in how versatile the distillery was created to be. Many of Roseisle’s stills can be adjusted by using different condensers, fermentation times can be altered, and so on. If Diageo needs a full-bodied and robust single malt for its blends, Roseisle can do that. If a light and grassy style is called for, it can make that too.
Versatility is a remarkable thing, but it also makes it difficult for us to say what we are tasting today is indeed Roseisle’s signature style. If you are purpose-built to mimic others, can you even have your own personal style?
(Distillery or star ship? You make the call. Roseisle's continuing mission is to explore strange new distillate styles, to seek out new yeasts and equipment, and to boldly go where no whisky has gone before.)
That isn’t really a fair question, I suppose. Having only two official single malt releases (there was another special release of Roseisle in 2024 – again a 12-Year-Old) does not give enough of a sample size to talk about house style at all. Maybe if we get a release a year for the next half decade or so that will give us a better idea, or at least more of an idea of what Diageo wants to showcase with the Distillery.
Regardless of that: Is this whisky any good? Let’s taste it and find out!
Roseisle 12 Year Special Releases 2023 – 56.5%
“This is the first bottling we have ever seen from Roseisle, and a well-matured Distillery Bottling, at that! Matured 12 years in First Fill Ex-Bourbon and Refill Casks.”
Evan’s Tasting Note
Nose: Fresh malt with fleshy orchard fruits and a touch of waxiness. Notes of chamomile, white chocolate, wholegrain toast with butter spread and melting on top, and a hint of vanilla pod.
Palate: A bit rugged and spicy up front; still showing it’s youthful and spirit-driven side. More notes of white chocolate along with white pepper, vanilla ice cream, shortbread cookies, lycée, macadamia nut, ripe banana, and drying toasted oak.
Finish: More spice and oak in a quiet battle with the creamy, sweet, and fleshy fruit notes.
Comment: Bold and perhaps a bit aggressive and youthful, even at 12 years old. A fun and enticing first release regardless.
I can see how this could turn into something akin to the Boutique-Y Glenlivet 24-Year-Old KWM Cask we tasted on Day 6, but considering that bottle is less expensive than this 12-year-old, the pricing on this Roseisle leaves me scratching my head…
Cheers,
Evan
Playing catch-up on our 2024 This Is Not An Advent Calendar?
You can find the rest of the blog posts here!
This entry was posted in Whisky, Tastings, Whisky Calendars, Distillery, Tastings - Online Tasting, KWM 2024 Not An Advent Calendar Tastings
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