Dumbarton 20 Years Old DMor (Dràm Mòr)

The bottler Dràm Mòr bottled this Dumbarton single grain, a 20 year old, from cask 211894, bottled at 52%, one of 306 bottles. Dumbarton is a closed grain distillery, its single grain now a finite, dwindling stock. A flock of around a hundred Chinese geese, the Scotch Watch, guarded its warehouses from 1959.

It was run off the distillery's continuous column stills, for a delicate spirit that leans on the cask with age. Ex-Bourbon casks held the grain for decades, soft oak that drives the sweetness. At oxidative maturity esters build and ellagitannins add a gentle, drying grip over the sweet grain. The slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the sweet, oily core over the decades. When it opened it was the largest continuous grain distillery in Scotland, and the first to use stainless steel columns. Its grain was the backbone of the Ballantine's blend for decades. Closed in 2002 and since demolished, its profile is fixed for good.

At its natural 52% it is concentrated. The ex-Bourbon gives coconut from oak lactones and vanilla from vanillin, over a buttery toffee. The texture is oily and buttery, the sweetness coating. Toffee and vanilla see out a long finish. This is a rare single grain from Dumbarton, silent since 2002.