Gone Grant 1994 DeDr Whiskyland Chapter Nine (Decadent Drinks)

The bottler Decadent Drinks bottled this Caperdonich, a 30 year old, distilled in 1994, bottled at 51.5%, one of 215 bottles. Caperdonich was a Speyside distillery in Rothes, closed in 2002 and since demolished. A pipeline known as the whisky pipe once carried its spirit across the road to Glen Grant.

The spirit was run through the distillery's tall copper stills, giving the soft pear and mint of the house style. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, a soft vanilla beneath the fruit. At this great, fragile age oxidation rules, ethereal esters, beeswax and old polished tannins to the close. Active wood frames the fruit without smothering the soft, creamy spirit. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, which is why it suits both bourbon and sherry. It is named, like the burn, from the Gaelic for the secret well. The light, creamy spirit takes cask flavour readily while keeping its pear and mint. Closed in 2002 and later demolished, its profile is fixed for good.

At a natural 51.5% it is full and oily. Tropical fruit, wax and a creamy oat, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A baked pear and a soft spice lift it. The close is long, fruit over a gentle oak. This is a finite single malt from the lost Caperdonich distillery.