Port Dundas

This Port Dundas grain, an official release, and bottled at 40%. Established in 1811 on the Glasgow canal, Port Dundas grew into a landmark Glasgow grain works before being closed and cleared after 2010. Glasgow was the blending heart of Scotland, and its output flowed into the famous houses.

Port Dundas made its whisky on a wheat led mash with Loch Katrine water, made in patent column stills rather than pot stills to give a light grain spirit that takes oak quickly. Ex-Bourbon oak held the spirit, the cask adding sweetness rather than weight. With no age statement, it sits in a soft, oak led register, the wood well integrated. Grain enters the cask light and clean, so the wood's character shows clearly against it.

Bottled at 40%, it is gentle. The lactones add coconut, vanillin from the lignin gives vanilla, and a rich toffee and fudge note, above the gentle grain sweetness beneath. A light citrus and soft tropical fruit run beneath the sweetness. The finish is long, waxy and warming. This is a taste of Glasgow grain that can no longer be made. As a closed distillery, its remaining casks grow scarcer each year.