Cambus 30 Years Old 1991 Cask #29218 (The Vintage Malt Whisky Co Ltd.)

Single grain Cambus, an independent The Vintage Malt Whisky Co Ltd bottling, a 30 year old single grain distilled in 1991, from cask 29218 and bottled at 49.5%. The outturn was 300 bottles. Cambus was a Lowland grain distillery on the River Devon in Clackmannanshire, founded around 1806 and closed in 1993. It was one of the five grain distilleries that founded the Distillers Company Limited in 1877.

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. Continuous distillation gives a light, clean spirit, so decades in oak drive much of the flavour. The spirit was drawn off two continuous Coffey stills, the water from the Lossburn Reservoir. Single grain Cambus is rare, mostly from independent bottlers and the odd Diageo Special Release.

At 49.5%, undiluted, it is deep and sweet. The ex-Bourbon gives a sweet, oily vanilla. It is soft and deep, the grain and oak well matched. A warming, sweet finish lingers. This is a single grain from the lost Cambus distillery.