Port Dundas 41 Years Old 1973 Cask #607217 (Duncan Taylor)

A Port Dundas single grain, selected and bottled by Duncan Taylor, aged 41 year old, from 1973, drawn from cask 607217 and bottled at 54.5%. 42 bottles in all. Dating to 1811 in the heart of Glasgow's blending trade, Port Dundas grew into an enormous grain distillery before being silenced in 2010 as grain moved to Cameronbridge. Its spirit was the backbone of countless blends in the great age of Scotch.

Made on a wheat led mash with Loch Katrine water and made in patent column stills rather than pot stills, this is a clean grain spirit with little weight of its own. An Oloroso sherry cask shaped it, aged in open contact with air to build a nutty, dried fruit depth. Three decades and more leave a concentrated, oaky grain of real rarity, mellow and fine. A clean spirit and a long sleep let the oak express itself fully.

At a natural 54.5% it is bold and full. The Oloroso lends fig, raisin and a walnut depth, while broken down lignin lends vanilla and oak lactones a gentle coconut, with a butterscotch and toffee sweetness, set over the soft tropical fruit of well aged grain. The palate is gentle, sweet and slow, with no rough edges. It closes long, sweet and gently woody. This is one of the last windows onto Port Dundas grain.