Grangestone Highland Single Malt Rum Cask Finish

Nose: candied brown sugar, light pleasant rum note, hint of apples, light orange citrus, subtle musty malt quality, hay, honey, slightly earthy herbal notes that are buried in it a bit. Taste: easy going sweetness with the slightest hint of rum, light bitter herbal quality, the faintest hit of an ashy note, short finish with the bitterness lingering just a touch. Not bad but there are other rum cask finished scotches out there that are much better.

Grangestone’s rum cask finish, a combination of American oak casked with a rum cask finish, which makes for a bright honey colored juice with a noticeable aroma. The nose—is an inviting aroma of sweet sugary tones of rum that develops into an earthy oaky aroma shrouded by a heavy influence of malt; subtle notes of caramelized sugar peek through with hints of spice. The malt is noticeable and interrupts what would be a delightful inviting aroma, while the smell of malt isn’t bad persay, it is most noticeable. The taste—fairly heavy malt with a dry spice finish, the inclusion of any fruit or sweet notes of sugar or rum influence are fleeting to borderline unnoticeable. The strong presence of ethanol is present and can hi-jack what would mimic some sherried inspired juice—instead it’s entirely missed with a bomb of heavy spice limited oak, sugar, and practically void of much else. It’s hard to be disappointed in something so friendly in price but with an expectation of a rum influenced that opportunity is missed by overpowering notes of oak, malt and spice. While inexpensive, it doesn’t live up to the small investment, and probably wouldn’t be worth a revisit—what’s not bad is the juice; it’s drinkable but is just not better than other offerings at this price under the same product label. Next. —the scotch guy

Tasted 4 bottles blind. The bourbon cask, sherry cask, rum cask, and 12yr single malts from grangestone. Nosing and tasting notes are from the blind tasting. On the nose there is a light oak up front followed by a pleasant maple syrup. Orange peel and spiced apples round out the nose. The taste is rich like toffee apples, and toasted orange peel. An odd sour grape note comes in at the end that doesn't seem to meld. The finish was the longest of the group but a solid medium length. Cinnamon, an oaky barrel spice, and a pleasant earthiness linger. Overall this was my least favorite. The nose was quite nice and almost reminded me of a bourbon but the sour grape on the taste really threw this out of whack for me.