Rattray's Selection "Batch No.01", 19 yo.
 
Style & Origin
styleScotch Blended (Vatted) Malt Whisky
age19 yo.
strength55.8% (111.6 proof)
peatedyes
casksSherry
price$85-100
availabilityvery rare
websitewww.dewarrattray.com
blender A.D. Rattray
Bar Log
Fri., Apr. 13, 2012bottle #544 donated by Kolja Erman
Fri., Apr. 13, 2012blind tasting of bottle #544
Fri., May. 25, 2012bottle #544 killed
Release Notes
Rattray's Selection Blended Malt Batch No 1 is a vatting of four sherry butts, each at least 19 years old, representing the regions of Scotland:- Auchentoshan 1991, Balblair 1990, Benriach 1989 and Bowmore 1991 The four casks were vatted then married together for a further 9 months maturation in Benrinnes sherry hogsheads. The result reveals a beautiful complex nose with medium sherry tones, deep engaging sweetness and faint smoke. This is a unique product with only 1,852 bottles produced at 55.8% abv.
A.D. Rattray
An excellent blend of four sherry casked single malts. One of the finest blended single malts (formally referred to as vatted malt) I've tasted to date. It has a little bit of everything here and at full strength no less. Stupendous depth and wonderful balance. The casks involved: '91 Auchentoshan, '90 Balblair, '89 Benriach, '91 Bowmore.
David Girard, K&L
Regular Tasting Results
# Taster Date Nose Taste Finish Balance Total
1 Alex Gurevich 8 9 7 8 32
2 Andy Romine 6 7 7 7 27
3 Anthony Lanni 7 8 8 7 30
4 David Drell 5 5 6 5 21
5 David Lawson 6 7 5 6 24
6 Jason McDade 7 8 7 7 29
7 Jim Leuper 6 10 8 8 32
8 Jim Leuper 6 7 7 6 26
9 Kolja Erman 8 9 7 8 32
10 Kyle Milardo 7 7 7 7 28
11 Leighton Hickman 2 4 3 3 12
12 Stuart Campbell 9 8 7 9 33
13 Tom Owens 6 8 8 6 28
Nose: floral! Can smell the alcohol, slightly sugary, sherry, oak, opens up some with water, nice!
Taste: strong! first impression is an Aberlour; sherr; with water the sherry really presents itself, revised up 1 point
Finish: very warm from alcohol but not harsh
Balance: a melody of power! great! Guess: independent bottling of a cask strength Aberlour
Alex Gurevich
Nose: blueberry, fruit, hard to get a bearing
Taste: smoke, alcohol burn, water opens up a lot, salt, oak and tobacco
Finish: smooth and lingers, dances on the tongue, long (?) finish, hint of smoke at end, almost like a cigar
Balance: very drinable, very nice to enjoy lingering
Andy Romine
Nose: antiseptic, after water: faint hints of sweet, perhaps fruit
Taste: black pepper
Finish: warm and smooth, burns just a bit, dark spice
Balance: weak at the start, simply because it gives no hint of the flavor to come, otherwise good.
Anthony Lanni
Nose: caramel, the odor I get from grappa... grapes? A bit of honey
Taste: a bit of peatiness that wasn't in the nose, sweet, not getting much
Finish: a little strong at the very end, smokiness lingers on the tongue
Balance: pretty well balanced, nothing amazing
David Drell
Nose: orange peel and smoke (faint), but very unassuming
Taste: warm, round fruit, light peat, nicely playful if not too deep
Finish: long tail, but peppery bite of alcohol rather than new dimension
Balance: enjoyable if limited experience, pleasing but didn't ring any new bells
David Lawson
caramel notes, rich flavor, Aberlour A'Bunadh?
Jason McDade
Nose: pleasant, subtle
Taste: warm caramel on the way in, smokey campfire on the way out, beautiful complexity
Finish: light finish initially, cumulative effect is impressive
Balance: nose seemed (?) (?) but the taste and finish are beautiful
Jim Leuper
Nose: medicinal
Taste: sharp, alcohol tang, chocolate underneath, opens nicely with water
Finish: gradual build, but (?) strong alcohol burn but much improved w/ water
Balance: well done
Jim Leuper
Nose: solid and round, classic elements, spicy, layer of smoke, hidden complexity
Taste: boom! A gut punch of flavor wrapped in sooty peat, a little astringent, doesn't remained filled out and expanded into finish
Finish: warm, builds but also thins out into alcoholy aftertastes
Balance: a smooth ride up towards a peak with a grand vista, the ride back down is a bit rough.
Kolja Erman
Nose: fruit, apple, (?), maybe pear
Taste: full citrus enveloping, tart, but a (?) of honey
Finish: nice hold build, slow born, (?) it enjoy
Balance: good? (?) time?
Kyle Milardo
subtle, mild
Leighton Hickman
Nose: just feels old fashioned, no complexity, not extras, just basic, not trying to be too clevler
Taste: heavy on the wood, some tangy fruit up front tho
Finish: gentle but not too expecting but (?) (?)
Balance: nothing wrong with this
Stuart Campbell
Nose: medicinal and hospitaly
Taste: black pepper and clove
Finish: nice but simple
Balance: pleasant, not exciting overall
Tom Owens
The Blender: A.D. Rattray
Established: 2004
Silent since: False
Address: Kirkoswald
→ website
In 2004 Tim Morrison, formerly of Morrison Bowmore Distillers, revived the Dewar Rattray company first established by his ancestor Andrew Dewar Rattray. His aim was to bottle single cask, single malt whisky. The firm also developed Stronachie, a single malt sourced from Benrrinnes distillery on Speyside, and intended to replicate whisky produced at the now long lost Stronachie distillery, located on the old Perthshire/Kinross-shire border.

Dewar Rattray also operates the Whisky Experience and Shop in Kirkoswald, Ayrshire, which offers a variety of sampling experiences as well as a wide range of whiskies for sale. Additionally, the firm has received planning permission to develop a distillery and visitor centre beside the River Clyde in Glasgow.

Andrew Dewar Rattray set up in business in Glasgow during 1868, trading as an importer of French wines, Italian spirits and olive oil, as well as blending and retailing Scotch whisky. Ultimately the firm was sold to the whisky broker William Walker, but was brought back into family ownership by Tim Morrison, who created the ‘new’ Stronachie in 2002. Back in the late 1800s A Dewar Rattray had acted as agent for Stronachie distillery, so there was already a historic connection.

Morrison also established the Cask Collection label for single cask bottlings, and in 2011 the peated blended malt Cask Islay was released, being transformed into a single malt two years later. 2012 saw the release of a five-year-old blend named Bank Note, a year after the Whisky Experience and Shop opened in Kirkoswald. Plans for the new Glasgow distillery were approved during 2014.

The company name is derived from the older family history of the Morrisons. In 1868 Andrew Dewar, an ancestor of the Morrisons, founded a wine and spirit trade company called Andrew Dewar Rattray Ltd. Beside trading, the company also exclusively distributed the products from the Stronachie Distillery. During the economic crisis of the 1920s the company had to be broken up. In 1928 also Stronachie was closed for good. Some decades later T. Morrison bought the rights to the names Rattray and Stronachie.

After legal quarrels with the blend producer Dewar's, the bottling company was renamed A.D. Rattray.
from ScotchWhisky.com, Whisky.com
The Owner: Morrison Glasgow Distillers
Established: 2012
Silent since: False
Address: 100 Stobcross Rd
Tim Morrison, formerly of Morrison Bowmore Distillers and owner of independent bottler AD Rattray, set up Morrison Glasgow Distillers (formerly Stanmorr) in 2012 with a vision to revive distilling in Glasgow. Morrison runs AD Rattray as an entirely separate entity.

The board is led by Tim Morrison as chairman and his son Andrew Morrison, who serves as commercial director. Independent whisky consultant Glen Moore, who also once worked with Bowmore as a stillman, mashman and head of marketing, serves as managing director.

The company is currently overseeing the construction of Clydeside distillery on the banks of the river Clyde in Glasgow.

Morrison Glasgow Distillers started life in 2012 as Stanmorr Ltd, a company set up to oversee the building of a new distillery in Glasgow, one that would ‘celebrate the role whisky has played in shaping both Glasgow’s and Scotland’s heritage’.

The brainchild of Tim Morrison, the distillery was to be built within the historic Pump House, at the mouth of Glasgow’s Queen’s Dock.

Planning permission for the site was granted in early 2014, but complications surrounding the foundations of the plot – the dock had been in-filled in 1977 – forced the company to orientate the distillery. This meant submitting a new proposal to Glasgow Council for planning approval.

By 2015 the company had changed its name to The Glasgow Distilling Company, to reflect its intentions to revive whisky production in the city. However, just the year previously, the confusingly named Glasgow Distillery Company beat Morrison and co. to open the first new malt distillery in Glasgow for over 100 years, with the Glasgow distillery in Hillington.

On 1 August 2016, now with full planning permission for its newly positioned distillery – which is now named Clydeside – and a more unambiguous company name of Morrison Glasgow Distillers, the group broke ground at the Pump House.
from ScotchWhisky.com