Imperial 19 Years Old 1995 Cask #50164 (Signatory)

With Imperial demolished in 2013 and silent since 1998, bottlings like this are among the last records of a lost Speyside distillery. This single cask was filled in 1995 and bottled by Signatory Vintage at 19 years old, for its Cask Strength Collection range. Single cask number 50164 yielded 273 bottles, released for Germany.

Imperial ran four large copper pot stills at Carron and made a fruity Speyside spirit that mostly went into blends such as Teacher's and Ballantine's. This bottling matured in ex-Bourbon American oak. Across 19 years, the toasted staves released vanillin, which reads as vanilla, and oak lactones, which carry coconut, while the cask char filtered heavier sulphur notes from the spirit.

Bottled at its natural cask strength of 54.6%, without dilution, the ex-Bourbon wood supplies furfural for toasted almond, eugenol for clove and warm spice, and maltol for a soft toffee sweetness. The long maturation draws tannins from the oak, drying the finish into clean wood.