Glen Keith 22 Years Old 1991 Cask #73663 (Creative Whisky Company)

The bottler Creative Whisky Company bottled this Glen Keith, a 22 year old, distilled in 1991, from cask 73663, bottled at 51.5%, one of 188 bottles. Glen Keith is a light Speyside malt, mothballed for years and revived in 2013. It was the first distillery in Scotland to use gas fired direct heating.

Distilled light and fruity in the Glen Keith style, building a light, fruity character of green apple and pear. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin lending vanilla under the apple. At this evaporative stage ellagitannins lend a drying structure while oxidation builds a richer, tropical fruit. Much of the Glen Keith make went to the blenders, a little kept as single malt. It was the first new distillery to open in Speyside since the great whisky crash of 1898. The light, fruity spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and fruit to the fore. It sits within sight of Strathisla, the oldest distillery in Scotland.

At its natural 51.5% it is concentrated. Green apple, pear and a soft malt, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Beneath it run green apple, pear and a soft vanilla. The close is light and clean, fruit over a gentle oak. This is a Speyside single malt of real lightness.