Caperdonich 23 Years Old 1997 The Nectar of the Daily Drams (Daily Dram)

A Caperdonich drawn by the bottler Daily Dram, distilled in 1997, bottled at 53.6%. Caperdonich made a light, fruity Speyside malt at Rothes until its closure in 2002. A pipeline known as the whisky pipe once carried its spirit across the road to Glen Grant.

Worked through the distillery's four tall stills, for a delicate Speyside spirit with a creamy lift. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanilla and a light sweetness under the fruit. Through the evaporative decades the oils concentrate, lactones and esters folding into mango and beeswax. Caperdonich leaned to cream, pear and mint where Glen Grant showed green apple. Its four stills were dispersed, a pair going as far as Belgium and others to Falkirk. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. The light Speyside make gains most of its depth from decades in good oak. The distillery is gone, demolished in 2011, so what sleeps in cask is all there is.

At 53.6%, undiluted, it is deep and fruity. A creamy, fruity sweetness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Soft pear and a waxy cream sit behind the cask. A long, creamy finish ends on pear and vanilla. This is a finite single malt from the lost Caperdonich distillery.