Inchgower 12 Years Old (Original Collection)

Inchgower is the coastal outlier of Speyside, owned by Diageo and built mostly into the Bell's blend, with single malt a rare sight. Cadenhead's, Scotland's oldest independent bottler, bottled this and released it at 12 years old in its Original Collection range.

Inchgower's four stills carry steeply angled lyne arms that hold back the heavier, oilier vapours, part of why the malt comes out nutty, waxy and faintly saline. This bottling matured in an ex-Bourbon cask.

Bottled at 46%, the ex-Bourbon wood gives vanillin for vanilla and oak lactones for coconut, with maltol lending toffee. At 12 years the wood and the salty, nutty spirit are roughly in balance. The recorded notes run to a yeasty note, cocoa, stewed fruit, dried fruit, dried hay and a dry, sandy note.