Cambus 30 Years Old 1991 Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop Vienna (Cadenhead’s)

This is a Cambus single grain, chosen and bottled by Cadenhead's, a 30 year old single grain distilled in 1991 and bottled at 53.3%. Just 270 bottles were filled. Cambus was a Lowland grain distillery on the River Devon in Clackmannanshire, founded around 1806 and closed in 1993. Cambus was once one of the largest grain distilleries in Scotland.

The spirit was run off the distillery's continuous column stills, to build a soft, sweet grain character. A sherry cask held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut. Long ageing brings a deep coconut, toffee and a mellow, polished oak. Continuous distillation gives a light, clean spirit, so decades in oak drive much of the flavour. Single grain Cambus is rare, mostly from independent bottlers and the odd Diageo Special Release. Alfred Barnard visited in 1885, noting six huge warehouses holding seventeen thousand casks. A fire destroyed the distillery in 1914; it was rebuilt and resumed in the late 1930s.

Bottled at a cask strength 53.3%, it is rich. The Oloroso brings dried fruit and a nutty depth over the sweet grain. Soft toffee and vanilla sit behind the sweetness. A sweet, coconut led finish lingers. This is the deep, sweet grain of old Cambus.