Mostly gone

Recommended, if you can find it for a halfway reasonable price

For the details…

Rosebank’s fate has historically been closely linked to the Forth and Clyde Canal, which linked Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth in the east with Glasgow and the Firth of Clyde in the west. The canal was built in 1790, and there was distilling near the current site of Rosebank as early as 1798. The present distillery dates to 1840, when James Rankin converted a maltings for an earlier distillery into Rosebank distillery. It became a founding member of Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD) in 1914, and joined, along with the rest of SMD, the Distiller’s Company Limited (DCL) portfolio in 1925. The canal had fallen into disuse in 1963, so when DCL successor firm United Distillers and Vintners (UDV) was looking for a Lowland representative for its Classic Malts range, Rosebank was at a disadvantage, especially in light of its needing an expensive refurbishment. Because of that, Glenkinchie became the Lowland malt in the range and Rosebank was closed in 1993, despite the superior reputation of its spirit. 

The distillery seemed to be closed for good–the old stills were stolen, and although the brand and stocks remained with UDV successor Diageo, the buildings had been sold to British Waterways. Then Ian Macleod Distillers, owners of Tamdhu and Glengoyne, along with several blending concerns, stepped forward, buying the old building back from British Waterways and the brand and stocks from Diageo. A painstaking refurbishment began, carefully replicating the lost stills and the old methods. Finally, earlier this week, the first new spirit ran ahead of the official grand reopening. 

Rosebank was widely regarded as a classic Lowland whisky, triple distilled and with a delicate, floral character. Prior to shuttering it in 1993, UDV bottled Rosebank at 12 years old as part of the Flora and Fauna range. A gentle, delicate, lightly honeyed and slightly floral whisky, it showcases all the pleasures of a well-made dram in the traditional Lowland style. Unfortunately, the remaining bottles are scarce, and alarmingly pricey, even accounting for their relative rarity.

Rosebank 12 (Flora and Fauna) 43% abv

Nose: Very light and refreshing–ice cold spring water flowing over rock. Chamomile tea with a drop of honey. Dried grains. Just a whiff of carnation. Gentle, fresh, a little sweet.

Body: Medium, with a slightly mouth coating texture.

Palate: Quite sweet–a rather light honey. Agreeable and refreshing and again, there’s an almost mossy springwater quality to it. Underneath sweet summer grass straws and even a trace of dry cereal again to balance the gentle sweetness. Just the slightest edge of something drier and more pungent–soap, or even creosote–but it’s faint.

Finish: Remarkably long and still predominantly sweet with a slight spearmint note, now, which becomes slightly more pronounced as it fades away.

Score: 90/100

Who should buy it?: Whisky explorers. If you’re interested in branching out from whiskies that overpower your senses, a well-made, classic Lowlander like Rosebank is a wonderful thing to try.

Overall thoughts: A really lovely whisky that shows the delicacy and potential of great Lowland whisky. Here’s hoping the revitalized distillery will prove able to capture similar magic.

Bottling Information:

Expression:  Rosebank 12

Bottler: Proprietor

Range: Flora and Fauna

Bottle Code: L6335CM000 05482126

Presentation: Unspecified

Details: n/a

Price: I got this for somewhere in the $100-200 range, already steep for a 12 year old, 43% abv whisky. Checking retail for this review, you can still find it, but the price is now in the $700-900 range, so…yeah.

Availability: Mainly at auction, although if you want to sell a kidney, you can still get it from The Whisky Barrel or The Whisky Exchange, for example.

Distillery Information:

Region: Lowlands

Location: Falkirk, Central Lowlands

Geography: Inland

Date Founded: 1840

Owner: Ian Macleod Distillers

Website: https://www.rosebank.com/

Capacity: ?

Plant Summary: ?

Total expressions sampled: 2

Overall distillery score: n/a

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