Cambus 25 Years Old 1991 Cask #1112969 (Duncan Taylor)

This Cambus was from the independent bottler Duncan Taylor, a 25 year old distilled in 1991, from cask 1112969 and bottled at 55.1%. The outturn was 238 bottles. Cambus was a Lowland grain distillery on the River Devon in Clackmannanshire, founded around 1806 and closed in 1993. Single grain Cambus is rare, mostly from independent bottlers, with the odd Diageo Special Release.

The spirit was run off the distillery's continuous column stills, to build a soft, sweet grain character. Ex-Bourbon casks held the grain, soft oak that drives the sweetness. At this age it is rich and waxy, the sweet grain folded into a buttery, oily body. Years in oak deepen the toffee and crème brûlée notes of aged grain. Most surviving Cambus was distilled in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before the doors closed. Grain whisky like this gains coconut and toffee from decades in active oak. The light, sweet grain takes on a deep, oily richness over many years.

At 55.1%, undiluted, it is deep and sweet. The ex-Bourbon gives butterscotch, coconut and cream. A butterscotch and a creamy oak lift it. It closes long, sweet and oily. This is an old Lowland single grain of real character.