Roseisle 12 Year Old Special Releases 2024

Roseisle 12 Year Old Origami Kite 2 Special Releases 2024 55.6% 70cl 

Last year’s Special Releases collection – aka, the first instalment of Spirited Xchange – saw the inaugural Roseisle bottling from the innovative, versatile super-distillery. This 12-year-old follow-up is just as compelling. Aged in refill and ex-bourbon American oak casks, it is richly complex with all manner of fudge, spicy and generally winey notes. Intriguing stuff from the still relatively new Speyside maker. 

Official tasting notes:  

Nose: Mild in feel. The top notes are faintly vinous, supported by a slight tart fruitiness  recalling unripe redcurrants, which gradually softens and sweetens to creamy vanilla fudge.  A drop of water adds a fleeting dusty note. All of this is light and understated.  

Palate: At natural strength, soft, ultra-creamy and rich in texture and sweet at first, with hints  of vanilla icing and vanilla ice cream, balanced at once by a spirit-spicy complexity that  carries a rich fruitiness. The sweetness lasts throughout, and this Roseisle has a richly  welcoming taste, both straight and with a dash of water, which softens and appreciably  sweetens it, bringing out more fruity notes without removing the spiciness.  

Finish: Quite long, finishing richly sweet and lightly spicy with a controlled peppery warmth.  It's a little sweeter with water but otherwise similar.