Inchgower 20 Years Old 1977 (Authentic 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, distilled in 1977, from Inchgower's years under Arthur Bell & Sons, and released it at 20 years old in its Authentic Collection range. It was released for Italy.

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 its natural cask strength of 56.5%, without dilution, the refill ex-Bourbon oak works gently, vanillin reading as vanilla and furfural as a faint toasted almond. At 20 years the cask has had time to round off the spirit's coastal edge and pull the flavours together.