Caledonian Batch 2 (TBWC)

Caledonian, the Cally, was a grain distillery near Haymarket in Edinburgh, built in 1855 and for several decades the largest distillery in Scotland. It closed in 1988, and its single grain now reaches drinkers only through independent bottlers. That Boutique-y Whisky Company releases small batches under numbered labels with comic strip artwork, and this is its second batch of Caledonian.

The light grain spirit was distilled continuously in a Coffey still and matured in ex-Bourbon oak for some twenty nine years. The long rest draws coconut, vanilla and toffee from the American oak into the clean, sweet grain, building an oily depth. Bottled at 47.7 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 sweet, coconut, vanilla and toffee popcorn over a soft, oily body, finishing creamy and long. A small batch of old single grain from a vanished Edinburgh distillery, its stock finite. 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.