Deanston 12 Years Old 2006 Cask #900127 (Signatory)

This Deanston was bottled by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, a 12 year old, distilled in 2006, from cask 900127, bottled at 60.1%, one of 527 bottles. Deanston is a green, honeyed Highland malt from the Teith valley, the only Scottish distillery to make its own power. The mill ran for 180 years before cotton declined and the site became a distillery.

The spirit was mashed in the open top tun and fermented long for a fruity make, for a soft, waxy make of green apple and honey. It was matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood working slowly into the waxy malt. In integration lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the spirit, the green apple deepening to honey. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. The light, fruity make takes cask flavour well while keeping its honey and wax. The site was the Adelphi cotton mill, built in 1785 by Sir Richard Arkwright and turned to whisky in 1965.

At a hearty 60.1% it carries real weight. A bright, honeyed orchard fruit, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Soft orchard fruit and honey sit behind the cask. It finishes long, waxy and warming. This is Deanston, the mill turned distillery on the Teith.