Caperdonich Batch 5 (TBWC)

A Caperdonich of a 22 year old chosen by the bottler That Boutique-y Whisky Company, bottled at 48.6%, one of 250 bottles. Caperdonich, a lost Speyside distillery in Rothes, fell silent in 2002. Water came from the Caperdonich Burn, the so called secret well above Rothes.

Distilled from unpeated malt in tall Glen Grant style stills, giving the soft pear and mint of the house style. A bourbon barrel held it, lending vanilla and a little cream. At this evaporative stage ellagitannins lend a drying structure while oxidation builds waxy tropical fruit. Caperdonich leaned to cream, pear and mint where Glen Grant showed green apple. After closure the site was sold to the coppersmith Forsyths, who demolished it in 2011. Seagram bought it in 1977, and Pernod Ricard closed it in 2002. It was extended to four stills in 1967, run by only a couple of workers. With Caperdonich demolished, every bottle draws on a finite, dwindling stock.

At its natural 48.6% it is concentrated. A waxy, pear scented fruitiness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Mango, pear and a soft vanilla fill the middle. It finishes creamy, fruity and waxy. This is a finite single malt from the lost Caperdonich distillery.