Pittyvaich 14 Years Old 1993 (Gordon & MacPhail)

This 14 year old is a Gordon and MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice, a 1993 vintage bottled at 43% from ex-Bourbon oak. The 1993 distillation was the last at Pittyvaich, a Speyside distillery Bell's raised beside Dufftown in 1974 and which closed that same year, making even its younger bottlings a finite record of a make that was only ever meant for blending.

Ageing in ex-Bourbon American oak for fourteen years places the spirit in its integration phase, where oak and spirit have knit together and esterification has begun to build fruit. The refill oak works gently, letting the light, grassy Speyside make speak with only a soft cask sweetness laid over it rather than a heavy wood character.

At 43% it is bright and easy. Lignin broken down in the oak gives vanilla, the oak lactones a touch of coconut, and the cask frames citrus, green apple and a grassy malt note. The finish is medium and clean, a younger and fresher face of the distillery's final vintage, closer to the new make character than the older Special Releases. At fourteen years it is one of the youngest independent Pittyvaichs you are likely to meet, closer to the new make than the older Special Releases.