The Glenrothes 12 year single malt scotch. Honey, vanilla, dried fruit, with a whiff of full floral-ness. I enjoyed this so much the other night I literally couldn’t stop refilling my glass. A delicious, SUPER easy-to-drink sipper that even at the standard 40%, tastes richer than you’d think.

This is part of the new Soleo collection from The Glenrothes, which features 5 single malts ranging from 10-25 years. The practice of aging scotch whisky in barrels that have been “seasoned” with sherry wine is very common, and this line highlights that front and center. This 12 year has spent its entire lifetime in sherry casks, providing a sweeter, richer and less “oak-y” profile than those that’ve split their time between sherry and bourbon barrels.

The name of the line “Soleo” specifically refers to the process used for producing the sweetest styles of sherry, most notably Pedro Ximenez (“PX”). Fresh grapes are left to dry in the sun, essentially creating raisins. This drying process changes the chemical composition of the fruit and also concentrates sugars as the water content evaporates (why raisins don’t just taste like an extra sweet grape and have more rich jammy/tannic flavors). To produce PX sherry, additional alcohol is added to stop the fermentation before all the sugars in the extra-sweet raisin juice have been converted to alcohol, leaving a naturally sweet wine that’s then aged in barrels.