Caledonian 1987 29 Year Cask Strength Collection (Signatory)

The nose is lemon vanilla poundcake. There’s also a good bit of ethanol, which is surprising to me for 29 years in a barrel. There’s an underlying note of rubbing alcohol that detracts, although it does seem to dissipate as it sits out. There’s a berry note there. I don’t notice any oak, and the color of the whiskey suggests it didn’t pick up much, again despite 29 freaking years in a barrel. Are we sure the barrel was wood, and not stainless steel? The palate is nicer than I expected. The lemon vanilla poundcake comes through. Doesn’t taste as hot as it noses. The flavors actually really appeal to me, reminding me of my mother-in-law’s lemon vanilla poundcake. I can taste the crusty sugar, dense cake, along with what seems like limoncello drizzled over the top. A little bit of the rubbing alcohol note comes back on the finish, along with some lemon pith. Interesting how much this differs from the 28 year-old North British. Actually, between the two I prefer this one. Really a joy to try both of these old grain whiskies. Thank you @ContemplativeFox for the samples!

Initially brash and biting, after a long time in the glass it calms down a little, but it’s still rough and tumble for a single grain with ethanol and bitterness. There’s a nice little lemon curd, vanilla, pastry thing going on, it’s a little creamy, but not enough to redeem this whiskey. Thanks to @ContemplativeFox for the sample.

Rating: 12/23 I've heard that single grains aren't good until they reach 30 years of age, but when I got this I figured 29 years was probably close enough. Let's find out. N:Dry, tannic wood, burning alcohol, nuttiness, tartness. Lemon peel, some oiliness. Not a ton of complexity here. P: Sweet with some pretty substantial nutty richness with a bit of oil. Some dry lemony waxy tartness and harsh spices give it that typical single grain profile. There's some nice subtle cinnamon with a little ginger and touch of clove making up the spices. An occasional faint hint of tropical fruit makes me think of Willett rye. I don't get much alcohol flavor, but there is some, which is kind of surprising at this age. There is some dry wood character at times, but the wood really doesn't make itself very known. As I'm sipping this, I'm finding that the nose and palate are becoming more refined and I'm able to taste more nuance. It's still a struggle though. A delicate oaky layer with faint vanilla eventually emerges. It's nice and I can appreciate a whisky trying to highlight the juice by restraining the wood, but the juice comes across as a bit immature and doesn't have a ton of character to it. Water restrains the heat a bit and brings out more of the grain flavor, though it doesn't really do anything for the harshness and a lot of the other flavors get squashed. This is definitely a standard single grain profile. It's unobjectionable, but lacking in character. F: It keeps burning for a bit. Oily with a bit of lemon and spice. There's actually kind of clean sweetness to the oiliness that's more pronounced here than on the palate. On a clean palate, this is quite enjoyable. It's never amazing, but it's good. It always strikes me as a bit harsh though. I would not have guessed this was 29 years old if asked; I'd have said it was a 10 year old that was a very high proportion hearts and was aged in fairly used casks. Whatever cask they found for this must have been several fills in. Side by side, I find that Dewar's 15 The Monarch (13) has better complexity and I appreciate its comparatively relaxed nature and toasty grains. I'd probably take the Dewar's over this, unfortunately. Càrn Mòr's 1994 24.5ish year old Girvan (12) is richer and fuller than this is, but it does have a bit more alcohol flavor and definitely more harshness. There was a moment when I thought I'd take the Girvan over this, but now I think I wouldn't. Still, it's not great that this is at the Girvan's level. I think that I might have overrated the Girvan though. It could be an 11 or 10. I think a 12 is the high end of what I could give this. Three Scottish Brothers (12) is more approachable and hedonistic than this with greater richness, but less fullness (which makes sense considering that it's only 40% ABV). They're different ends of the 'typical single grain' spectrum, but I find them to be competitive. I'm considering an 11 or 12 for this. I think I'm going with a 12.