Strathclyde 28 Years Old 1988 Cask #62112 (BB&R)

Single grain Strathclyde, an independent Berry Bros & Rudd bottling, aged 28 year old from 1988, drawn from cask 62112 and bottled at 52.2%. Founded in 1927 on an old cotton mill site in Glasgow, Strathclyde is Glasgow's only grain distillery. Strathclyde stands on the site of an old cotton mill in the Gorbals.

The spirit was run through column stills, an analyser and a rectifier, on Loch Katrine water, to build a soft, sweet grain character. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood adding coconut, vanilla and toffee. At this age it is rich and waxy, the sweet grain folded into a buttery, oily body. Grain whisky like this rewards long maturation, the wood adding most of the character. The malt distillery Kinclaith lived inside its walls from 1957 until 1975. Single grain releases are rare, almost all of them from independent bottlers. Light grain spirit takes oak readily, so long ageing brings out coconut and toffee. The distillery sits in the Gorbals on the south bank of the Clyde.

Undiluted at 52.2%, it is layered. The ex-Bourbon gives coconut, vanilla and toffee. A butterscotch and a creamy oak lift it. It finishes clean, sweet and buttery. This is an old Glasgow single grain whisky.