Dumbarton 22 Years Old 2000 Cask #211902 (Anam na h-Alba)

The bottler Anam na h-Alba bottled this Dumbarton single grain, a 22 year old, distilled in 2000, from cask 211902, bottled at 51.6%, one of 255 bottles. Dumbarton is a closed grain distillery, its single grain now a finite, dwindling stock. Its iconic red brick tower, built to echo Hiram Walker's Canadian distillery, housed the continuous stills.

Drawn from the stainless steel columns on the banks of the Leven, for a light, sweet make built for the Ballantine's blend. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, coconut and vanilla drawn slowly into the grain. In the oxidative, evaporative years concentration deepens the oils, coconut, toffee and a tropical fruit emerging. Three decades and more turn a light spirit into something rich and tropical. Continuous distillation gives a light, clean spirit, so decades in oak drive much of the flavour. With Dumbarton gone, every bottle draws on a finite, dwindling stock.

At cask strength 51.6% it is full bodied. Coconut from the oak lactones and vanilla from vanillin run deep, over butterscotch and a soft oil. Soft toffee and vanilla sit behind the sweetness. Toffee and vanilla see out a long finish. This is the sweet, oily grain of a vanished Lowland distillery.