Dumbarton 55 Years Old 1964 Cask #DL 13767 (XOP)

A Dumbarton single grain of a 55 year old chosen by the Glasgow bottler Douglas Laing, distilled in 1964, from cask DL 13767, bottled at 44.6%, one of 215 bottles. Dumbarton, the largest continuous grain distillery in Scotland when it opened, closed in 2002. The geese featured in Ballantine's advertising and became a local landmark before being retired in 2012.

The spirit was run off the distillery's continuous column stills, giving a clean, mellow grain whisky. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak for decades, coconut, vanilla and a polished sweetness. Decades have drawn the grain to a tropical, oily delicacy, crème brûlée, coconut and a faint sotolon. Continuous distillation gives a light, clean spirit, so decades in oak drive much of the flavour. Light grain takes oak readily, the ex-Bourbon lending coconut and vanilla over many years. No more will ever be made, the distillery silent since 2002.

At 44.6%, undiluted, it is deep and sweet. The American oak gives vanillin vanilla and lactone coconut, with a polished, toffee sweetness. A butterscotch and a creamy oak lift it. A long, oily finish carries a coconut lift. This is the sweet, oily grain of a vanished Lowland distillery.