Port Dundas 22 Years Old 2000 Cask #305452 (PerfectDram)

A Port Dundas single grain, selected and bottled by PerfectDram, 22 year old in the wood, from 2000, drawn from cask 305452 and bottled at 53.8%. Just 261 bottles were filled. An enormous grain distillery, Port Dundas was first run in 1811 beside the Forth and Clyde Canal in Glasgow and silenced in 2010 as grain moved to Cameronbridge. Single grain in its own right was always a sideline to its work for the blenders.

Distilled using wheat, malted barley and soft Loch Katrine water and distilled continuously in tall Coffey column stills, it began as a clean, sweet grain spirit. Refill American oak held the spirit, soft wood that lets the grain lead. Past twenty years the grain turns deep, oily and softly waxy. Refill oak, having given its sharpest compounds to an earlier fill, works slowly and lets the spirit lead.

At a full 53.8% it is deep and strong. A clear vanilla rises from the lignin, coconut follows from the lactones, and caramelised sugars a toffee and creme brulee note, across a soft, fruity grain backbone. A gentle spice and polished oak frame the sweetness. The finish is smooth, sweet and lingering. This is a collectable remnant of a closed Glasgow giant.