Glenrothes 1989-2001 Official

This bottle was extremely interesting to me, as it raised the question of what flavor profile it had at bottling. Glenrothes GLENROTHES 1989-2001 OB 43% The aroma is rich sherry, dried orange with chocolate sauce, plum jam, a spreading graininess from the depths, leather, slightly creamy and earthy, rich. On the palate, it expands with more force than its alcohol strength, has a gentle viscosity, good sherry character, marmalade, chocolate, herbs, creamy sweetness with body, a faint tannic finish deepens the flavor, and leaves a long, pleasant aftertaste with a sense of thickness. [Good/Very Good] Glenrothes 1989 bottled in 2001, approximately 12 years of maturation. A sherry cask matured Glenrothes with a diverse range of fruits characteristic of sherry, and the nuances of chocolate and jam remain firmly present. The spreading graininess and a rich aroma with the creaminess typical of Glenrothes were notable. Tasting it also revealed a similarly diverse range of flavors with good sherry character, and the balance between the sweet, rich body and the pleasant tannins gave a sense of depth. It was impressive how powerful and thick it felt, exceeding its alcohol strength. I recall that during the time this bottle was released, I was already drinking quite a few malts, but honestly, I rarely found new releases of short-matured sherry to be particularly delicious. To be honest, I used to think that only old bottles of short-matured sherry were delicious, and it's a bit embarrassing to admit that I even dismissed 1980s sherry as being overly sulfury from the start. I'm very curious about what aroma and flavor this bottle had at its initial release, but I imagine it probably wasn't that delicious. Elements like sulfury notes, the alcohol sensation from short maturation, and lack of integration between cask and spirit might have been concerning. Now it has a slightly smoother texture, and there's an integration that isn't often found in new releases. I think it must have improved with time. Recently, I've been finding more and more that sherry casks bottled around 10-15 years ago are delicious, but this one was particularly impressive. While I don't expect it to be as outstanding as 1960s sherry casks, I now think it's not unusual for sherry casks from the 1980s and 1990s to be surprisingly delicious.