Imperial 25 Years Old 1997 Cask #75 (Elixir)

Imperial spent most of its life supplying blends and rarely appeared as a single malt; since its 1998 closure and 2013 demolition, what survives is almost entirely independent bottlings. This single cask was filled in 1997 and bottled by Elixir Distillers at 25 years old, for its The Whisky Trail range. It was drawn from single cask number 75, released for Europe.

Imperial worked to a fruity, lightly floral house character, the product of tall stills and a comparatively light spirit cut. This bottling matured in ex-Bourbon American oak. Across 25 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 49.9%, without dilution, 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 a cooked vegetable note. The long maturation draws tannins from the oak, drying the finish into clean wood.