I closed out November with reviews of two of the whiskies in Diageo’s Special Release slate for 2023 (the Talisker and the Lagavulin). Over the next two weeks I will post my reviews of the rest. The third is a release that does in fact count as a special release. Not on account of its age but because it is the first release from the distillery. Roseisle was officially opened in 2010 in the Speyside. It was built by Diageo to produce a high volume of malt for its blends. Larger than Diageo’s classic distilleries, with 14 stills and a production capacity of 10 million liters per annum, this was nobody’s idea of a romantic operation. Still, it’s exciting to drink the first release of any distillery, especially when that first release is not new make or just over 3 years old. I think I remember reading that they were set up to produce all kinds of malts for different blending needs. As to whether that’s proven true in practice, I don’t know but I do know that I have no idea what to expect of this malt. The packaging mysteriously says the spirit is from “first-fill bourbon & refill casks”. That’s different from “first-fill and refill bourbon casks”. Does that imply that the refill casks had previously held other contents? I can no more answer that question than tell you why the hell they gave this the name, “The Origami Kite”. But I can tell you what I think of it.

Roseisle 12, Special Release 2023 (56.5%; first-fill bourbon & refill casks; from a bottle split)

Nose: Honeyed malt with some prickly oak. On the second sniff there’s a fair bit of lemon zest along with some vanilla and some cream. The lemon picks up steam as it sits and is joined by some pineapple. A few drops of water push the oak back a bit and amplify the fruit.

Palate: Comes in as advertised by the nose but with some sweeter fruit (peach) popping out as I swallow. Very approachable at full strength; good texture. Continues in this general vein, with the oak becoming a little more prominent. Okay, let’s see what water does for it. The oak actually becomes spicier here with water.

Finish: Long. The peach builds and then yields to the oak (palpable throughout but not tannic or otherwise out of balance). As on the palate with water.

Comments: This reminds me of Glenlivet Nadurra from the late 2000s—back when the only version available was the first-fill bourbon and it was very reasonably priced. Which is to say I quite liked this. I’ll be curious to try Roseisle with less active casks involved. Not sure if I’ll get the opportunity though.

Rating: 85 points.