Port Dundas 20 Years Old 2000 Cask #305288 (Dram Charaidean)

Bottled by Dram Charaidean, this Port Dundas single grain matured to 20 year old, from 2000, drawn from cask 305288 and bottled at 60.6%. The outturn was 81 bottles. Once a giant of Lowland grain whisky, Port Dundas was founded in 1811 in the north of Glasgow before being brought to an end in 2010. After closure its casks passed largely to independent bottlers and a few official releases.

Grain whisky like this was worked through continuous patent stills from unpeated wheat with a little malted barley, giving a delicate spirit that ages oak first. It was matured in a refill ex-Bourbon cask, letting the clean grain character speak. A decade and a half in oak knits cask and spirit, building a creamy, sweet make. Continuous distillation strips the heavier notes, leaving a clean canvas for the wood.

At cask strength 60.6% it is muscular. Lignin gives vanilla, oak lactones lend a soft coconut, and a creme brulee and butterscotch note, across a soft, fruity grain backbone. Banana and pineapple flicker through the creamy body. The finish is long, waxy and warming. This is a piece of Glasgow distilling history in the glass.