Dumbarton 33 Years Old 1986 Cask #10026403 (Duncan Taylor)

A Dumbarton single grain of a 33 year old chosen by the Huntly bottler Duncan Taylor, distilled in 1986, from cask 10026403, bottled at 53.8%, one of 103 bottles. Dumbarton ran continuous column stills by the Clyde for over sixty years before closing in 2002. When it opened it was the largest continuous grain distillery in Scotland, and the first to use stainless steel columns.

Run off the distillery's continuous column stills, to build a soft, sweet grain character. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, coconut and vanilla drawn slowly into the grain. Ethereal and old, oak lactones give a profound coconut and vanillin a waxy vanilla, over tropical fruit and mellow oak. Grain whisky like this rewards very long maturation, the wood giving most of the character. With the distillery demolished, every bottle draws on a finite, dwindling stock. No new spirit will follow it, the stills cold since 2002.

At cask strength 53.8% it is full bodied. Oak lactones lend a deep coconut and vanillin a sweet vanilla, with a crème brûlée richness. The mouthfeel is oily, the coconut carried on a sweet body. Toffee and vanilla see out a long finish. This is a finite single grain from the lost Dumbarton distillery.