Inchgower 12 Years Old 2009 Cask #803987 (Connoisseurs Choice)

Classed by Diageo among its nutty and spicy malts, Inchgower is the Manzanilla of Speyside, its coastal saltiness setting it apart from its floral neighbours. Gordon & MacPhail, the Elgin merchant and bottler, selected this single cask, distilled in 2009, and released it at 12 years old in its Connoisseurs Choice - Cask Strength range. Single cask 803987 gave 253 bottles, released for Luxembourg.

The distillery's spirit is built for body rather than elegance, nutty and waxy with a coastal salt note unusual for Speyside. This bottling matured in an Oloroso sherry cask.

Bottled at its natural cask strength of 55.9%, without dilution, the Oloroso sherry cask layers raisin and fig from its melanoidins over a drying, nutty oak grip. At 12 years the wood and the salty, nutty spirit are roughly in balance.