Inchgower 24 Years Old 1980 Cask #14150 (First Cask)

Few Speyside distilleries taste of the sea, but Inchgower, near the Buckie fishing harbour, carries a briny, waxy character into almost everything it makes. First Cask selected this single cask, distilled in 1980, from Inchgower's years under Arthur Bell & Sons, and released it at 24 years old. It came from single cask 14150, 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 46%, the ex-Bourbon wood gives vanillin for vanilla and oak lactones for coconut, with maltol lending toffee. At 24 years the long maturation has deepened the spirit, the oak adding weight to its savoury core.