Caledonian 34 Years Old 1987 Cask #7823876 (Duncan Taylor)

Caledonian, the Cally, was a grain distillery near Haymarket in Edinburgh, built in 1855 and a member of the Distillers Company from 1884. For several decades it was the largest distillery in Scotland, producing over nine million litres of grain whisky a year for blending. Closed in 1988, its casks are now a finite resource; Duncan Taylor bottled this single cask, a sibling to its 31 year old, from 1987 distillate.

The spirit was drawn off a continuous Coffey still, light and high in strength, then filled into a single ex-Bourbon cask. Thirty four years in American oak built coconut, vanilla and toffee over the clean grain, the texture turning oily with age. Bottled at its natural 52.7 percent. A light, high strength grain spirit was the distillery's stock in trade, almost all of it destined for blends.

At this age it is rich and oily, coconut, crème brûlée and a grilled pineapple sweetness over polished oak, with a long, creamy finish. A deep old single cask from a distillery silent since 1988. Coconut and vanilla come from the American oak, the lignin and lactones working slowly on the clean grain. The closure of 1988 fixed its character for good, so what remains in cask is all there will ever be.