Review #657 - Roseisle 12 Year - Diageo Special Releases 2024
Compared to most Diageo distilleries, Roseisle is quite young - construction was completed in 2008, meaning they could theoretically have stocks of 17 years old at this point. This Speyside distillery was built as a workhorse, primarily to be used for Diageo's blends like Johnnie Walker - it has a very large capacity of 12.5 million liters per annum of spirit production, making it one of the largest malt distilleries in Scotland.
While there's no core range bottling available, the past 2 years, we have seen a Roseisle single malt made available via Diageo's annual Special Release series. Both carried a 12 year age statement and were bottled at cask strength; this version we're reviewing today is the second edition, which arrived in 2024, and it's named 'Origami Kite II.'
The cask mix for the 2024 edition is the same as the 2023 version: all ex-bourbon casks, specifically a mixture of first fill and refill casks. We actually really like this decision, as it should allow us to get a great idea of the true spirit character coming out of this distillery. The strength is a perfect 55.6% ABV, but there are no statements about chill filtration or added coloring on the label, unfortunately.
Roseisle 12 Year - Diageo Special Releases 2024
Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt
Price: USD 150 (2025)
Age Statement: 12 Years
Strength: 55.6% ABV
Cask Makeup: First fill ex-bourbon and refill ex-bourbon casks
Details: Bottled 2024
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 8 months from a sample (bottle split). Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Very buttery - buttered croissants, nicely rounded, nice weight. A good balance of spirit notes and oak; orchard fruits like golden apple, pear, and green banana arrive. Dry pasta noodles, hay, and olive oil mix with starfruit and light melon; there's a subtle mineral note like slate, too.
Palate: Lots of melon, banana, and sweet lemon start us off; vanilla, custard, and honeycomb add more sweetness. The mouthfeel is medium-thick, and there's a nice viscosity to the texture, as well as good weight to the spirit again; sweet malt, some chalk, hay, and icing sugar build. Later, we get fresh apple pie and graham crackers.
Finish: Some spirity warmth, and the malty backbone shows nicely; vanilla, apples, pastries, and sugary watermelon. The oak brings soft tannins, and we get a hint of estery rum funk in the aftertaste. It's a medium length finish.
Final Note: There is a very nice spirit character to this whisky - good weight, but also excellent estery flavor development with lots of light fruit and baking notes. The combination of first fill and refill casks here was perfect, as the power of the spirit was tamed, but not enough to cover that distillery signature. The buttery baking notes and sweet melon especially were a treat to taste; very good whisky.
Value is the issue with this bottle - it's just a bit too expensive at $150, a problem seen across the board with Diageo's special releases in recent years. It's a very good single malt, but we can't get ourselves to pull the trigger on a full bottle due to that price; we'll wait to see if this is available on offer at any point.
Our Average Rating: 7.7 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 5.77
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
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