Cambus 20 Years Old 1991 Cask #55885 (Signatory)

From Signatory Vintage comes this Cambus matured to 20 year old distilled in 1991, from cask 55885 and bottled at 54.3%. Only 558 bottles were released. Cambus was a founding distillery of DCL, making grain whisky in Clackmannanshire until it closed in 1993. With the distillery long closed, every bottle is drawn from a finite, dwindling stock.

The spirit was made in twin Coffey stills before the distillery closed, for a light, sweet make of real purity. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak for decades, the wood adding coconut and vanilla. At this age the sweet grain has gained a full coconut and a buttery depth. Light grain takes oak readily, the ex-Bourbon lending coconut and vanilla over many years. Single grain Cambus is rare, mostly from independent bottlers and the odd Diageo Special Release. Alfred Barnard visited in 1885, noting six huge warehouses holding seventeen thousand casks. A fire destroyed the distillery in 1914; it was rebuilt and resumed in the late 1930s.

Bottled at a cask strength 54.3%, it is rich. The ex-Bourbon gives a sweet, oily vanilla. The mouthfeel is oily, the coconut carried on a sweet body. A warming, sweet finish lingers. This is the dessert sweet grain of silent Cambus.