Imperial 20 Years Old 1995 Cask #50222 + 50223 (Signatory)

Imperial was a Speyside distillery at Carron that fell silent for the last time in 1998 and was demolished in 2013, which caps its single malt at whatever was already in cask. This single cask was filled in 1995 and bottled by Signatory Vintage at 20 years old, for its The Un-Chillfiltered Collection range. It was drawn from single cask number 50222 + 50223, released for the Netherlands.

The distillery's large stills gave a clean spirit rich in esters, floral and faintly waxy, typical of Speyside before its closure. This bottling matured in ex-Bourbon American oak. Across 20 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 46%, the ex-Bourbon wood supplies furfural for toasted almond, eugenol for clove and warm spice, and maltol for a soft toffee sweetness. Recorded bottle notes run to citrus, a cereal note and vanilla. The long maturation draws tannins from the oak, drying the finish into clean wood.