Inchgower 25 Years Old 1995 Cask #DL 14183 (Old Particular)

Classed by Diageo among its nutty and spicy malts, Inchgower is the Manzanilla of Speyside, its coastal saltiness setting it apart from its floral neighbours. Douglas Laing, a Glasgow bottling house, selected this single cask, distilled in 1995, from the distillery's United Distillers and early Diageo era, and released it at 25 years old in its Old Particular range. Single cask DL 14183 gave 242 bottles, released for Europe.

Inchgower's four stills carry steeply angled lyne arms that hold back the heavier, oilier vapours, part of why the malt comes out nutty, waxy and faintly saline. This bottling matured in an Oloroso sherry cask.

Bottled at its natural cask strength of 51.5%, without dilution, the Oloroso wood gives dried fruit, melanoidins reading as fig and raisin with tannins adding a walnut dryness. At 25 years the long maturation has deepened the spirit, the oak adding weight to its savoury core.