Caperdonich 27 Years Old

An official release of Caperdonich, a 27 year old, at 54.4%. Caperdonich was a Speyside malt distillery, its spirit long destined for blends. Water came from the Caperdonich Burn, the so called secret well above Rothes.

This was distilled from unpeated malt in tall Glen Grant style stills, giving the soft pear and mint of the house style. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the gentle American oak letting the spirit lead. Oxidative, evaporative ageing turns the malt rich and waxy, ethereal esters and a faint sotolon (maple). The light Speyside make gains most of its depth from decades in good oak. It reopened in 1965 to feed Glen Grant's booming Italian trade, and took the Caperdonich name in 1977. It was built in 1898 by J and J Grant of Glen Grant, as Glen Grant No.2, to meet the whisky boom. The slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the fruity, waxy core over the decades. The distillery is gone, demolished in 2011, so what sleeps in cask is all there is.

At a natural 54.4% it is full and oily. Mango, pear and a soft vanilla, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Beneath it run pear, cream and a soft mint. The close is long, fruit over a gentle oak. This is a single malt from a silent Speyside distillery.