Cameronbridge 25 Years Old 1991 Cask #DMG 12086 (Douglas McGibbon)

Douglas McGibbon bottled this Cameronbridge single grain, a 25 year old distilled in 1991, from cask DMG 12086 and bottled at 50%. The outturn was 748 bottles. Founded in 1824 by John Haig, Cameronbridge is the oldest and largest grain distillery in Scotland. Water comes from Loch Leven, the mash from wheat, the spirit drawn off three column stills.

It was drawn from continuous Coffey stills for a light grain spirit, for a delicate spirit that leans on the cask with age. Ex-Bourbon casks held the grain, soft oak that drives the sweetness. Mid age brings a deeper coconut and a buttery, dessert sweetness. Long ageing turns light grain into a deep, oily, dessert sweet whisky. Light grain spirit like this gains coconut and toffee from decades in active oak. Pot stills for malt whisky were removed in 1929, leaving Cameronbridge a pure grain plant. The site was expanded again in 2007 in a forty million pound investment.

At cask strength 50% it is full bodied. The ex-Bourbon gives sweet vanilla and a buttery coconut. It is clean and sweet, the grain spirit shining through. Crème brûlée and oak draw out the close. This is the grain behind Cameron Brig and Haig Club.