Royal Brackla 18 Years Old

A distillery bottling of Royal Brackla, aged 18 year old and bottled at 46%. Established in 1812 on the Cawdor Estate of Macbeth fame, Royal Brackla is the King's Own Whisky. Cawdor Castle, said to inspire Shakespeare's Macbeth, stands on the same estate.

It was distilled twice on soft Cawdor Burn water, for a clean, floral spirit with a gentle spice. Maturation in a sherry cask laid dried fruit over the elegant malt. Beyond seventeen years the malt grows deep and rounded, dried fruit and oak spice over honey. The cool Highland climate gives a slow, even maturation over many years. Captain William Fraser, an army man returned from India, built the distillery in 1812. Water for the make is drawn from the Cawdor Burn in the northern Highlands. For generations the malt was a backbone of the Dewar's blends before its single malt revival.

Bottled at 46%, it is rounded. The Palo Cortado adds nuts, dried fruit and a dry, savoury depth, and a gentle vanilla and coconut from the wood, with pear, honey and a warm spice. The texture is smooth and rounded, the fruit lifted by honey. The finish runs honeyed, spiced and soft. This is Royal Brackla's refined Highland style.