Port Dundas 12 Years Old 2004 Cask #DMG 11762 (Douglas McGibbon)

Douglas McGibbon bottled this Port Dundas grain at 12 year old from 2004, drawn from cask DMG 11762 and bottled at 50%. Some 290 bottles were drawn. Port Dundas, Scotland's largest distillery in its prime first run in 1811 beside the Forth and Clyde Canal in Glasgow, was wound down by Diageo in 2010. Most of its make went to blends rather than single bottlings, so single grain Port Dundas is uncommon.

Made from a mash of wheat and malted barley and produced by continuous distillation in Coffey stills, this is a smooth, low flavour spirit built for long ageing. Matured in a first fill ex-Bourbon cask, the refill wood letting the spirit's sweetness show. Young for grain, it stays clean and bright, the cask starting to round the spirit. Distilled to a high strength, grain carries less congener weight than malt and matures in an oak led way.

At its natural 50% it is powerful. Butterscotch and toffee from the toasted oak, lifted by a sweet vanilla from the wood and the lactones bring coconut and cream, over a clean, fruity grain base. The mouthfeel is thick and oily, classic old grain. The finish is long, sweet and softly oaky. This is a closing record of a distillery silenced in 2010.