Pittyvaich 20 Years Old 1989 Special Release 2009

This 20 year old was the first of Pittyvaich's Diageo Special Releases, a 1989 vintage bottled at cask strength in 2009 in an outturn of 6000. Pittyvaich was a sister still house to Dufftown, raised by Bell's in 1975 to supply malt for the Bell's blend, and mothballed in 1993, so every bottle since draws on a fixed and shrinking stock now held entirely by Diageo. Its appearance in the Special Releases gave a once humble blending malt a sudden prestige.

Matured in ex-Bourbon American oak and bottled without reduction, the whisky carries two decades of slow Speyside ageing. By twenty years the spirit has reached oxidative maturity, the oak structure firm and the fruit baked rather than fresh, though the refill character keeps the distillery's own grassy, malty signature in clear view rather than burying it under heavy wood.

At a natural 57.5% it is bold and bright. Vanillin from the broken down lignin gives vanilla, while the years build a citric lift, fresh orchard fruit and a malt extract sweetness over light new oak. A little water opens a long, clean and cereal finish, the cask strength showing the make with nothing held back, as close to the spirit as a twenty year old ghost can offer.