Dumbarton 22 Years Old 2000 Watt Whisky (Campbeltown Whisky Company Ltd.)

The bottler Campbeltown Whisky Company Ltd bottled this Dumbarton single grain, a 22 year old, distilled in 2000, bottled at 55.5%, one of 204 bottles. Dumbarton is a closed grain distillery, its single grain now a finite, dwindling stock. The complex also housed the Inverleven and Lomond malt stills, now also gone.

Distilled continuously in column stills from a maize and barley mash, for the light, sweet grain spirit Dumbarton was known for. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, coconut and vanilla drawn slowly into the grain. At this evaporative stage ellagitannins lend a polished structure while oxidation builds a waxy, tropical depth. The clean grain base lets the cask speak clearly across the long years. Refill oak lets the clean grain show, the wood adding coconut and a buttery toffee. It closed in 2002 and the buildings, the red tower among them, were later demolished for housing. With Dumbarton gone, every bottle draws on a finite, dwindling stock.

At 55.5%, undiluted, it is deep and sweet. The American oak gives vanillin vanilla and lactone coconut, with a polished, toffee sweetness. The texture is oily and buttery, the sweetness coating. It closes long, sweet and oily. This is an old Lowland single grain of real character.