Inchgower 14 Years Old (Original Collection)

Few Speyside distilleries taste of the sea, but Inchgower, near the Buckie fishing harbour, carries a briny, waxy character into almost everything it makes. Cadenhead's, Scotland's oldest independent bottler, bottled this, distilled in 2009, and released it at 14 years old in its Original Collection range.

A quick mashing regime and a warmer second water give Inchgower the savoury, saline character that earns it the Manzanilla of Speyside nickname. 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 14 years the wood and the salty, nutty spirit are roughly in balance. The recorded notes run to citrus, a cooked vegetable note, fresh orchard fruit, malt sweetness, a yeasty note and a fragrant lift.