Part 11 of Reviews from The Single Cask Singapore
Review by: Whiskery Turnip
Singapore is one of my favorite places to visit, and I leapt at the chance to finally return again during my summer conference schedule. I resolved to do a bit more whisky tasting while I was in the country and use my extended stay to drop by new places and meet new people.
We returned to The Single Cask many times in Singapore; the first time was to check out the place (found in parts 1-4). However, the half dozen other trips, usually just for a dram, resulted from that great first experience. No doubt, the fact that we stayed half a block away for part of the visit and walked by Chijmes, the complex in which the bar sits, just about any time we left the hotel, also played a role.
Our last night there was emblematic of the heart and community shared through whisky. We stopped by the bar shortly after opening for one last hurrah before heading to Changi airport and our very late red-eye flight. We tasted the happy hour special flight, including the whisky below, and, over a couple hours, found ourselves with pours from regulars who happened to stop in with their own bottles and offered to share, adding social media friends and swapping more stories about travel and whisky. We never made it to all the bars or places were hoped to, but it is never bad to have a few good reasons to return again.
Distillery: Glenrothes
Bottler: Whisky Age
Region: Scotland/Speyside Single Malt
ABV: 46.9%. Cask strength.
Age: 25 years. Distilled in Jan. 1997. Bottled in April 2022.
Cask type: Barrel. Cask SP002.
Price: $73/80ml flight of four whiskies at The Single Cask Singapore.
Nose: Bursting with well-rounded notes of apples— sauce, juice, fresh slices, and sticky hard candies, mellow oak with hints of honey, brown sugar, and dried herbs.
Palate: Medium-bodied and mellow, balanced on the palate, vanilla cream, pears, apples, subtle oak, hints of pineapple with water, flakey biscuits and browned butter cookies.
Finish: Medium-length with apple, oak, and hints of herbal tea.
Mental Image: Apple Press Demonstration
Conclusion: As the warm-up dram for the flight, this mystery Speyside from a distillery that starts with Glen and ends in Rothes (sometimes labeled Glenshiel on trade/blending casks that cannot name the distillery) served its purpose. It was mellow and balanced, though still characterful on the mouthfeel, as the apple notes had a lovely crispness. It was also a bit one-dimensional and uncomplicated, not necessarily a bad thing in a warm-up whisky or something you plan to kick back with and not really dwell too much on. This was not my favorite, and it had much in common with some of the 2002 vintage Glentauchers from SMWS. However, some of those verged on over-oaked to my palate, and this was far from feeling overly done or tainted by any tannic bitterness.
Overall, a quality malt, even if not a very memorable one.
Final Score: 76.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 