Glenfiddich’s malt master’s hands are shaking, a look of love and fear flits across his face. If we were in a cartoon a bead of sweat would be rapidly forming on his brow. The reason? He’s pouring out a dram of one of the rarest whiskies in the world – and every drop of this light amber nectar is precious.
The whisky itself is splendid, it really is the drink of the gods and it seems they knew they were dealing with something very special; the cask was filled on New Year’s Eve 1955. My first impression of this 55-year-old dram was surprise. Despite its age it is an incredibly pale gold, the result of using a plain butt; a cask that has been filled two or three times before being entrusted with this, it’s final duty.
This lightness continues through the tasting. A quick swirl sets its aromas free – beautiful floral notes mixed with slight citrus are the first to play on the nose swiftly followed by a slight sweetness and smokiness. With anticipation building to breaking point we take our first sip. The flavours dance jubilantly on the tongue. Was that a hint of vanilla nestling among the sweet oak and slight smokiness? The excited hubbub gives way to awed silence as we take in quite how privileged we are to have tasted this whisky.
This remarkable liquid is being released in a very small bottling; just eleven are to be sold, to celebrate the 110th birthday of Janet Sheed Roberts (one for each decade of her life), the oldest living person in Scotland and granddaughter of the company’s founder William Grant.
The celebration of Janet Robert’s life continues in the design of this run. The beautiful leather box the whisky comes in is based around her travelling trunk and the bottle decorated with aquamarine – her favourite colour.
Attention to detail is the watchword here with the individuality and rarity of each bottle emphasised. The bottles are hand blown, hand numbered and come with an individual artwork inspired by Janet Robert’s graduation gown; she was also the first woman to graduate from Edinburgh Law School; a miniature of the whisky and a booklet detailing Janet’s life are also present.
The bottles are to go to auction individually with the proceeds to be donated to a selection of charities. The first of the eleven bottles will be at Bonham’s whisky sale in Edinburgh on December 14th with proceeds going to Water Aid, a charity dedicated to providing safe water for the world’s poorest families.
Whisky of this kind has become a hot investment opportunity. With some bottles adding as much as £10,000 to their value in just a decade. The unfortunate result of this trend is, however, that much of this whisky will never be enjoyed. Instead it will sit as a part of a large collection or accumulating value, a fate which, to me, seems a great pity.
This whisky, expected to sell for upwards of £30,000 per bottle is a fitting way to pay tribute to the extraordinary life of Janet Sheed Roberts.
