Caperdonich 21 Years Old 2000 Cask #29486 (Signatory)

This Caperdonich was bottled by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, a 21 year old, distilled in 2000, from cask 29486, bottled at 56.2%, one of 223 bottles. Caperdonich is a closed Speyside distillery, its stock now finite and dwindling. It is named, like the burn, from the Gaelic for the secret well.

This was drawn off the tall stills on Caperdonich Burn water, for a soft, fruity, oily make. A bourbon barrel held it, lending vanilla and a little cream. At oxidative maturity aldehydes and esters lend tropical fruit while ellagitannins add a drying, structured grip. With the distillery gone, the casks that remain are a finite record of its make. A pipeline known as the whisky pipe once carried its spirit across the road to Glen Grant. Caperdonich leaned to cream, pear and mint where Glen Grant showed green apple. A few warehouses still stand, but the stillhouse and kiln are long gone. No more will ever be made, the distillery silent since 2002.

At a full 56.2% it is bold yet fruity. Soft pear, cream and a waxy oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The mouthfeel is waxy, the fruit carried on a creamy body. It finishes creamy, fruity and waxy. This is a creamy, tropical Speyside single malt of real age.