Teaninich 8 Years Old 2014 Cask #703177A (The Single Cask Ltd.)

Bottled by The Single Cask Ltd, this Teaninich, an 8 year old Highland malt from 2014, drawn from cask 703177A and bottled at 57.4%. Just 81 bottles were filled. Teaninich was built in 1817 in Easter Ross, north of Inverness; it uses a mash filter found nowhere else in Scotch. There are no warehouses on site; the spirit is matured in Diageo's central stores.

The spirit was made from a mash filter wort for a clean, grassy spirit, for a clean, oily make of real freshness. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, gentle American oak beneath the green fruit. At this age the spirit is fresh and green, cut grass and citrus to the fore. Fat stills give a waxy texture that carries the cask flavour. Filled spirit is tankered away to mature in Diageo's central warehouses. The name comes from the Gaelic for house on the hill, a nod to the old estate. By the 1970s Teaninich was already one of the largest distilleries in Scotland.

Undiluted at 57.4%, it is layered. Vanilla and a light cream from the barrel, with cut grass, green tea and a soft citrus. Beneath it run cut grass, citrus and a soft wax. It closes clean, grassy and waxy. This is a rare single malt from a blending giant.