Inchgower 13 Years Old 2011 Cask #109 (Signatory)

Inchgower is rarely bottled on its own, most of its salty, nutty spirit going to the blenders, so independent releases carry the distillery's name where the blends do not. Signatory, the long established Edinburgh independent, selected this single cask, distilled in 2011, and released it at 13 years old in its Cask Strength Collection range. Single cask 109 gave 306 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 a Marsala wine cask.

Bottled at its natural cask strength of 59.3%, without dilution, the Marsala wood adds caramelised brown sugar and dried fruit, with a faint nutty bitterness. At 13 years the wood and the salty, nutty spirit are roughly in balance. The recorded notes run to citrus and dried fruit.