Carsebridge Diageo Special Releases 2018 48 Years Old 1970

A 48 year old Carsebridge single grain from the distillery's own stock, from 1970, at 43.2%, 1000 bottles in all. Carsebridge, a lost grain distillery in Clackmannanshire, fell silent in 1983. By 1980 it was the largest grain distillery in Scotland, with three Coffey stills and a dark grains plant.

It was worked through continuous stills from grain, building the gentle Lowland grain style. Ex-Bourbon casks held the grain for decades, soft oak that drives the sweetness. At over four decades the light grain has turned deep and resinous, sotolon, coconut and old polished oak. Long ageing turns light grain into a deep, oily, dessert sweet whisky. Its cooperage outlived the distillery, working until 2011 when it moved to Cambus. With the distillery long gone, every bottle draws on a finite, dwindling stock. It was one of the grain distilleries that founded the Distillers Company in 1877. Closed in 1983 and demolished in 1992, its profile is fixed for good.

At 43.2% it is clean, oily and sweet. Oak lactones lend a deep coconut and vanillin a sweet vanilla, with a crème brûlée richness. A butterscotch and a creamy oak lift it. The finish is deep, oily and creamy. This is a rare single grain from Carsebridge, silent since 1983.