Carsebridge 44 Years Old 1976 40th release (Dramfool)

A Carsebridge single grain of a 44 year old chosen by the independent Dramfool, distilled in 1976, bottled at 41.5%, one of 122 bottles. Carsebridge is a closed grain distillery, its old single grain now a finite, dwindling stock. Its cooperage outlived the distillery, working until 2011 when it moved to Cambus.

It was distilled in continuous column stills for a light, sweet grain, for a delicate spirit that leans on the cask with age. Decades in ex-Bourbon oak turned the light grain deep, oily and sweet. Decades have drawn the grain to a tropical, oily delicacy, crème brûlée, coconut and a faint sotolon. Patient ageing gives the oily, waxy texture prized in old single grain. The clean grain base lets the cask speak clearly across the long years. The light Lowland grain gains its deep coconut and toffee entirely from the cask. Diageo released an official Carsebridge as a 48 year old in the 2018 Special Releases. No new spirit will follow it, the stills cold since 1983.

Reduced to 41.5%, it is mellow. Oak lactones lend a deep coconut and vanillin a sweet vanilla, with a crème brûlée richness. Coconut, toffee and a tropical fruit fill the middle. It closes long, sweet and oily. This is the sweet, oily grain of a vanished DCL distillery.