Royal Salute 21 Years Old The Peated Blend (Chivas Brothers Ltd.)

Royal Salute 21 Years Old The Peated Blend (Chivas Brothers Ltd.) is a blended Scotch from Chivas Brothers Ltd. It marries malt and grain whiskies, including spirit from the lost Caperdonich distillery. A small amount of peated spirit was made from 1972 for blending needs.

Caperdonich, a Speyside distillery closed in 2002, lends a creamy, fruity depth. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanilla and a light sweetness under the fruit. Long ageing turns the fresh pear towards mango, beeswax and a polished oak. A few warehouses still stand, but the stillhouse and kiln are long gone. The cool Speyside air gave a slow, even maturation in the Rothes warehouses. It was rarely bottled as a single malt in its lifetime, so most come from independents. After closure the site was sold to the coppersmith Forsyths, who demolished it in 2011. With the distillery gone, the casks that remain are a finite record of its make.

At 40% it is clean and fruity. Soft pear, cream and dried fruit run through it, with a waxy, fruity depth. The texture is oily and waxy, the fruit lifted by vanilla. The finish is deep, waxy and tropical. A characterful blended Scotch drawing on a vanished distillery.