The Clydeside Distillery 2018 Cask #999

The Clydeside Distillery stands in the old hydraulic Pumphouse on the Queen's Dock, on the River Clyde in the heart of Glasgow. Opened in 2017 by the Morrison family, with roots running back through Bowmore and Glen Garioch, it is among the first malt distilleries to work in the city in more than a hundred years. The Vibrant Stills range gathers single casks chosen to show the distillery's spirit in its purest, most lively form, and this is cask 999.

Distilled in 2018 from Scottish barley and Loch Katrine water, the spirit was filled into ex-Bourbon oak and left for seven years. Refill bourbon wood is gentle, adding vanilla and a light honey while leaving the fresh, fruity distillery character to lead. It is bottled at a natural cask strength of 58 percent, unreduced.

At full strength it is bright and clean, green apple, pear and a squeeze of lemon over vanilla and a soft, biscuity malt, with a touch of white pepper and a fresh, fruity finish. A vivid young single cask from Glasgow's Clydeside, and a clear window onto the house style. For a malt of only seven years it carries real freshness and drive, the mark of clean spirit and gentle wood.