Imperial 15 Years Old 1991 Licensed Bottling (G&M)

Imperial closed in 1998 after a century of sporadic production and was taken down in 2013 to make way for Dalmunach, so its whisky now comes only from a closed distillery. Gordon & MacPhail drew this 15 years old release from 1991 spirit for its Licensed Bottling range. It was released for Europe.

Imperial's spirit was light and fruity, the Speyside character built for blending, which is part of why single malt releases stayed uncommon. This bottling matured in an ex-Oloroso sherry butt. Across 15 years, Oloroso is a fully oxidised sherry, so the wood entered the cask loaded with polyphenols and melanoidins, the latter reading as fig and raisin.

Bottled at 43%, the ex-Oloroso wood gives dried fruit and a walnut dryness drawn from its tannins, with a leather and cocoa edge from slow oxidation. Imperial's esters persist underneath as stewed orchard fruit, into a dry, nutty finish.