Cameronbridge 40 Years Old 1978 Cask #DL 12430 (XOP)

A Cameronbridge single grain, selected and bottled by Douglas Laing, aged 40 year old distilled in 1978, from cask DL 12430 and bottled at 52.8%. Only 211 bottles were released. Set in Fife, Cameronbridge has made grain whisky since 1824, the oldest plant of its kind in Scotland. John Haig's cousin Robert Stein invented the continuous still, and Cameronbridge was among the first to run one.

Distilled continuously in column stills from wheat, on Loch Leven water, giving a clean, mellow grain whisky. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, lending coconut and vanilla. Beyond thirty years the grain grows deep and oily, coconut, butterscotch and crème brûlée over polished oak. Decades turn a light spirit into something rich, oily and tropical. It was the home of continuous distillation in Scotland, making the country's first commercial grain whisky. A founding member of the Distillers Company in 1877, it is now Diageo's largest distillery.

At a natural 52.8% it is full and oily. The ex-Bourbon gives butterscotch, coconut and cream. Soft toffee and vanilla sit behind the sweetness. The close is soft, dessert sweet over oak. This is a soft, oily single grain from Cameronbridge.