1986 Glenrothes 36 Year Old "The Perfect Fifth" Ex-Bourbon Cask No.2128 Cask Strength Single Malt Speyside Scotch Whisky (750ml)

The Perfect Fifth acquired this exceptional 36-year-old Glenrothes with every intention of releasing it as one of the prestige bottlings in its range, but somehow the whisky never actually made it to market. Had it been released as planned, a single cask Glenrothes of this age would reasonably have carried a retail price around $2,000. Instead, years later, we've managed to get our hands on this tiny parcel under circumstances that make the original economics almost irrelevant. Cask #2128 was filled on March 4, 1986 and matured for more than 36 years in ex-bourbon oak before being bottled on December 15, 2022. After more than three and a half decades in cask, it had naturally fallen to just 43.3% ABV, yet remained above the legal minimum and was bottled exactly there at full cask strength. Glenrothes of this age is already exceptionally rare, but the ex-bourbon maturation makes this particularly fascinating. So much of the distillery's reputation has been built around sherry-matured whisky that an ancient bourbon-cask Glenrothes offers an entirely different window into the character of the spirit itself. A 1986 vintage, 36 years in a single cask, natural cask strength, and a release that essentially disappeared before it ever happened. This is precisely the sort of old Scotch we thought the modern market had made impossible to sell at prices like this.