Deanston Organic 21 Years Old 2000

A 21 year old Deanston, a distillery bottling, from 2000, at 50.9%, 2784 bottles in all. Deanston is a bright, fruity Highland single malt distilled in a Victorian mill at Doune. It draws water from the River Teith, which also drives the turbine that powers the distillery.

It was run through the bulbous stills with their upward sloping lyne arms, building the honeyed Deanston style. Finished in a Fino cask, the wood building over the green, waxy fruit. Into oxidative maturity, slow air ingress builds fruity ethyl esters (apple and pear) and a honeyed depth over the wax. The long ferment and clear wort give a fruity spirit that ages with grace. The light, fruity make takes cask flavour well while keeping its honey and wax. The mill ran for 180 years before cotton declined and the site became a distillery. Maturing in the vaulted stone warehouse, the spirit develops slow and steady.

At 50.9%, undiluted, it is deep and honeyed. A bright, honeyed orchard fruit, with a dry, bready, almond note from the cask. Beneath it run green apple, pear and a soft honey. A long, honeyed finish carries a green apple and a ginger spice. This is the cotton mill malt of the River Teith.