Imperial 22 Years Old 1996 Cask #873 (Elixir)

Imperial was a Speyside distillery at Carron that fell silent for the last time in 1998 and was demolished in 2013, which caps its single malt at whatever was already in cask. This single cask was filled in 1996 and bottled by Elixir Distillers at 22 years old, for its The Single Malts of Scotland range. Single cask number 873 yielded 253 bottles, released for Europe.

Fed by Saladin box maltings and distilled on four stills, Imperial produced a gentle, floral malt valued more as blend filling than as a single malt in its own right. This bottling matured in ex-Bourbon American oak. Across 22 years, the toasted staves released vanillin, which reads as vanilla, and oak lactones, which carry coconut, while the cask char filtered heavier sulphur notes from the spirit.

Bottled at its natural cask strength of 49.1%, without dilution, the ex-Bourbon wood supplies furfural for toasted almond, eugenol for clove and warm spice, and maltol for a soft toffee sweetness. Recorded bottle notes run to a cooked vegetable note. The long maturation draws tannins from the oak, drying the finish into clean wood.