Cambus 30 Years Old 1988 Cask #DL 13089 (XOP)

Douglas Laing selected this Cambus, a 30 year old distilled in 1988, from cask DL 13089 and bottled at 43.9%. The outturn was 282 bottles. Cambus, one of Scotland's oldest grain distilleries, ran near Alloa from about 1806 until its closure in 1993. In 1906 its grain was advertised on the front of the Daily Mail as not a headache in a gallon, during the What is Whisky debate.

It was drawn from Coffey stills on Lossburn Reservoir water, for a delicate spirit that leans on the cask with age. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, with vanilla and crème brûlée. Beyond twenty five years the grain grows deep and oily, coconut, butterscotch and crème brûlée over polished oak. Long ageing turns light grain into a deep, oily, dessert sweet whisky. The light, sweet grain takes on a deep, oily richness over many years. The distillery stood near Alloa, in the old brewing and distilling country of the River Devon.

Undiluted at 43.9%, it is layered. The ex-Bourbon gives coconut, vanilla and toffee. The texture is oily and buttery, the sweetness coating. A long, oily finish carries a coconut lift. This is the sweet, oily grain of a vanished DCL distillery.