Port Dundas 21 Years Old 2004 Cask #74042 (The Caskhound)

A Port Dundas single grain, selected and bottled by The Caskhound, 21 year old in the wood, from 2004, drawn from cask 74042 and bottled at 58.5%. The outturn was 396 bottles. An enormous grain distillery, Port Dundas was built in 1811 above the city of Glasgow and silenced in 2010 as grain moved to Cameronbridge. Most of its make went to blends rather than single bottlings, so single grain Port Dundas is uncommon.

Made using wheat, malted barley and soft Loch Katrine water and distilled continuously in tall Coffey column stills, this is a clean grain spirit with little weight of its own. Maturation in a red wine cask gave a berryish, lightly spiced character. Two decades and more carry the grain into a deep, rounded maturity, concentrated and waxy. A clean spirit and a long sleep let the oak express itself fully.

At cask strength 58.5% it is muscular. Red berry and spice come from the wine cask, while lignin breakdown lends vanilla and a coconut note from the lactones, with a toffee, dessert like sweetness, over a base of light citrus and tropical fruit. There is a buttery, dessert like quality long aged grain does so well. The finish is smooth, sweet and lingering. This is a closing record of a distillery silenced in 2010.