Deanston 15 Years Old 2008 Cask #DL 18154 (Old Particular)

This Deanston was bottled by the Glasgow bottler Douglas Laing, a 15 year old, distilled in 2008, from cask DL 18154, bottled at 60.2%, one of 667 bottles. Deanston is a honeyed, waxy Highland malt distilled beside the River Teith since 1966. Deanston is the only distillery in Scotland to generate all its own power from the river.

Worked through a long ferment and the bulbous stills for a waxy, fruity make, for a soft, waxy make of green apple and honey. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending vanilla and a little coconut. Through oxidative maturity esters concentrate, apple and pear turning honeyed over the waxy body. Unchillfiltered and at natural colour, it keeps the full waxy body in the glass. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the fruit. It uses 100% Scottish barley and bottles its malt unchillfiltered, with no added colour. Its old weaving shed, once full of looms, is now a cool stone warehouse for the casks.

Bottled at a cask strength 60.2%, it is rich. Apple, pear and a soft honey, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A baked apple and a gentle clove lift it. The finish runs long, fruity and warming. This is the soft, waxy malt of Doune.