The Exceptional Grain – 3rd Edition Blended Grain Scotch Whisky (Sutcliffe & Son)

The Exceptional Grain - 3rd Edition Blended Grain Scotch Whisky (Sutcliffe & Son) is a blended grain Scotch from Sutcliffe & Son. It vats aged grain whiskies, with rare Carsebridge in the mix. It was one of the grain distilleries that founded the Distillers Company in 1877.

Aged grain from the demolished Carsebridge gives coconut, vanilla and a buttery sweetness. Maturation in an Oloroso cask laid dried fruit over the oily grain. With the distillery gone, the casks that remain are a finite record of its make. Long ageing turns light grain into a deep, oily, dessert sweet whisky. Continuous distillation gives a light, clean spirit, so decades in oak drive much of the flavour. Decades in cask build a waxy, polished depth over the light Carsebridge spirit. Its cooperage outlived the distillery, working until 2011 when it moved to Cambus.

At 43% it is light and sweet. Coconut, vanilla, toffee and a soft oil run through it, with a creamy oak depth. The mouthfeel is oily, the coconut carried on a sweet body. It closes long, sweet and oily. A characterful blended grain Scotch drawing on grain from a vanished distillery.