Darkness 12 Year Old Glenrothes Oloroso

Double Darkness? As a perfect match to our Malt of the Month, this extremely Limited Edition, 12 year old Cask Strength Sherry BOMB from one of the world’s most famous purveyors of sherry whiskies – Glenrothes!

This is what happens when you take spirit from renowned ‘Speyside Sherry Specialist’ distillery, Glenrothes – and hand it over to an English Indy bottling company who’s signature technique is to finish in small Sherry ‘Octave’ casks. Our Members Extra Whisky is what happens!

If you’re in need of a sherry-fix, we’ve got it right here – – The Darkness Glenrothes Oloroso 12 Year Old!

Darkness Oloroso 12 years old is distilled in Glenrothes Speyside distillery and aged for 12 years, then finished in 64L ‘Octave’ Oloroso Sherry Casks for 6 months. This puts a supercharged injection of the Sherry notes into the whisky producing a luscious mouthfeel and complex flavour profile.

Nose: Cherry, coconut and chocolate on the nose – a real cherry ripe here for me.

Palate: Lovely, viscous mouthfeel with a white pepper explosion at first. But the fruit shines through right after. Big Stewed prunes, more cherry and biscuit spices with a nutty backbone.

Finish: There’s a ginger marmalade kick in the tail and those cherry ripe notes reappear as it fades.

A complex, and easy to sit on and chat about dram. Big and warming at nearly 60%abv this is a cask strength sherry bomb that definitely won’t have you ducking for cover! The big 58.9% really pushes those stewed fruit flavours forward. A big, rich and contemplative whisky that’s perfectly suited to these cold, winter nights.

In a word, Glenrothes is complex. Speedy mashing, a ratio of two wood to one steel washbacks balances any differences in character, while the length of the fermentation introduces a cereal note beneath the fruit. Distillation, however, is long in very tall stills with boil bulbs which help to maximise reflux and allow the full range of Glenrothes’ complexities to be teased out.

The result is multifaceted, weighty single malt which combine nuts with fruits, and a distinctly sweet spiciness. Perfectly suited to further maturation in our hand-coopered oloroso sherry octaves.

NOSE: Sticky toffee pudding, cedar, candy canes and butterscotch sundaes
TASTE: A sweet, spicy explosion, aniseed, coconut and dried fruit
FINISH: Hints of mint, earthy vanilla and stewed fruits linger with honey and cedar notes again

Darkness is a collection of intensely sherried whiskies from Atom Supplies. Atom are responsible for a number of highly sought after spirit brands including ‘That Boutique-y Whisky Company’ and ‘That Boutique-y Rum Company’.

The backbone of the Darkness brand are specially hand-coopered octave or quarter casks for a hugely increased surface area to volume ratio. These tiny 64l vessels result in the liquid yielding maximum richness and depth plus an alluring 100% natural red, amber colour.

Every whisky in the Darkness range has undertaken their signature maturation of 6 months in sherried octave cask, rewarding the drinker with an unparalleled richness and depth of flavour. The kind that can only be achieved by the liquid to wood ratio in octave cask maturation.