Caperdonich 38 Years Old 1972 Cask #6738 (Duncan Taylor)

A Caperdonich drawn by the Huntly bottler Duncan Taylor, distilled in 1972, from cask 6738, bottled at 51.8%, one of 152 bottles. Caperdonich was built in 1898 as Glen Grant No.2, the sister distillery across the road from Glen Grant. It is named, like the burn, from the Gaelic for the secret well.

The spirit was distilled from unpeated malt in tall Glen Grant style stills, to build a clean, waxy, fruity character. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanilla and a light sweetness under the fruit. In its ethereal years the malt is waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a touch of sotolon (maple, spice). Caperdonich leaned to cream, pear and mint where Glen Grant showed green apple. Chivas released a Secret Speyside range of official Caperdonich in 2019, aged eighteen to thirty years. It closed in 1902 after the Pattison crash, lying silent for over sixty years. Closed in 2002 and later demolished, its profile is fixed for good.

At its natural 51.8% it is concentrated. A creamy, fruity sweetness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Beneath it run pear, cream and a soft mint. A long, creamy finish ends on pear and vanilla. This is Caperdonich, the lost twin of Glen Grant.