Inchgower 22 Years Old 1989 (Authentic Collection)

On the Cromarty side of the Moray Firth, Inchgower distils a coastal, savoury malt that has fed Bell's and other Diageo blends for decades. Cadenhead's, Scotland's oldest independent bottler, bottled this, distilled in 1989, from the distillery's United Distillers and early Diageo era, and released it at 22 years old in its Authentic Collection range. The outturn was 246 bottles, released for Germany.

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 its natural cask strength of 56.5%, without dilution, the ex-Bourbon barrel adds vanilla from vanillin and a coconut note from oak lactones, over a light cereal sweetness. At 22 years the long maturation has deepened the spirit, the oak adding weight to its savoury core.