Imperial 29 Years Old 1989 Cask #1675 (Morrison and MacKay)

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 1989 and bottled by Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers at 29 years old, for its Càrn Mòr Celebration of the Cask range. Single cask number 1675 yielded 201 bottles, released for Spain.

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 29 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 42.7%, 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.