Inchgower 14 Years Old

Inchgower sits on the Moray Firth coast outside Buckie, a Speyside distillery in name whose malt is salty and savoury in a way the region's usually are not. This is one of Inchgower's uncommon official bottlings, released at 14 years old. It was released for Europe.

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 ex-Bourbon cask.

Bottled at 43%, 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 honey, a toasted note, fresh orchard fruit, a mossy, earthy note, dried hay and a nutty note.