Inchgower 15 Years Old 2008 Cask #806198 (Alistair Walker Whisky Company)

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. Alistair Walker Whisky Company selected this single cask, distilled in 2008, and released it at 15 years old in its Infrequent Flyers range. Single cask 806198 gave 555 bottles, released for Europe.

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 a Pedro Ximenez sherry cask.

Bottled at its natural cask strength of 54%, without dilution, the Pedro Ximenez wood is the sweetest of the sherry styles, melanoidins reading as raisin, date and treacle over a syrupy body. At 15 years the wood and the salty, nutty spirit are roughly in balance. The recorded notes run to cocoa, dried fruit, honey, a sherry note, a nutty note and stewed fruit.