First off, no, I didn’t get a chance to try The 51 by The Glenrothes, a just-released 51-year-old whisky from the Speyside estate. But I did get to drink through the rest of the distillery’s range and see The 51 in person. And that packaging alone shatters any expectations you may have about luxury whisky bottlings. You’ll see why “shatters” is an appropriate descriptor in just a moment.
But first, some history: The Glenrothes was founded in 1879 in Rothes, Speyside. The brand’s emphasis has always been on its water supply, which is sourced directly from the distillery’s private spring, as well as the use of tall stills and almost exclusive use of ex-sherry casks. “That’s what defines us today — the soft water and tall stills, which gives you a very light, bright, fruity and unique spirit,” says Kerr Arthur, The Glenrothes’ brand director.
The liquid is currently overseen by Laura Rampling, the brand’s master whisky maker since 2020 and only the fourth person to ever hold that role in the brand’s history.
The Glenrothes already has age-statement whiskies ranging from 15 to 42 years old, but The 51 represents its oldest release ever. Crafted from two rare casks (“Laura was trying to achieve a sense of a blade of fragility and strength, so one cask was fragrant and bright, but then she wanted to counter that with some strength, so the second cask is a lot more woody,” Arthur says) and bottled at natural strength, the whisky was inspired by the wild orchids that grow on the distillery grounds. “Three years ago, we were on our estate, near the water source with some clients,” Arthur says. “As we were walking back down to the distillery, somebody spotted a flower in the heath, and it was an orchid. We didn’t expect to find an orchid in a Highland estate in Scotland.”
From Vision to Mastery: How The Glenrothes Maintains Its Founding Spirit
What started as one man’s dream for his tiny Speyside town is now a rare, coveted icon for discerning whisky loversIf you’re wondering how orchids tie into what’s in the bottle, take a look at the packaging. Orchids are designed to attract a single pollinator; building from that knowledge, the packaging of The 51 is unique to its owners. The bottles are encased in a solid, sustainably-sourced Jesmonite column that you have to smash with a provided hammer. Those fragments and how the package is shattered will be different for every owner. The whisky buyer can then return those fragments to The Glenrothes, where a Kintsugi artist will restore them with gold and transform the remains into a one-of-a-kind vase in which a real orchid can grow.
Interestingly, by “breaking” the packaging, you’re forcing the whisky buyer to drink the liquid instead of just hoarding it. “We want people to enjoy the whisky,” Arthur says. “So part of this is committing to smashing the box and drinking the liquid. What we’re trying to do is have a whole experience.”
During a tasting at the brand’s New York office, I was able to see the unbroken packaging but not the contents within (there are only 100 bottles available worldwide, so that’s defendable.) However, Jonny Fowle, the global head of whisky and auctioneer at Sotheby’s, did get a chance to try it, being the first person outside The Glenrothes to have a taste.
“The concept of having to partially destroy something to consume it, that’s interesting because people not drinking their whisky keeps me in business,” he admits. “But not enough people in the market are committed to drinking, which I think takes a lot of the fun out of the reason we’re all here in the first place. So any project that encourages the commitment to drink the whisky is what we want. We wanted consumers engaged.”
As for the taste? “It was interesting to taste this after going through the range, but I think The 51 encapsulates what you’re getting from other whiskies,” Fowle adds. “You’re getting the freshness from the 18-year-old, the slightly more woody development of the 25-year-old and the aromatics of the 42-year-old. I think all of those are within the 51-year-old. But put your nose to it — there’s a liveliness and a vibrance.”
The good news is that the balance from the earlier expressions is still present. “With 50-plus-aged whiskies, the trend is toward wooden, spicy and leathery,” Fowle says. “There’s a dustiness. This is such a departure from that. The tropical fruit is so expressive. And you have orchard fruit, a floralness, this slight bit of orange peel, like Bergamot, and an exotic tea and a botanical kind of thing that goes along with it. It has layers of complexity. The experience was far removed from the expectation I had going in, but it’s still complex with a really long finish. I’m impressed.”
Given there are only 100 bottles available (and, as of a few weeks ago, some were already claimed) and the starting price is £37,000 ($46,500), that description may be the closest you, me or almost anyone else gets to trying The 51.
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