Cameronbridge 1990 23 Year The Sovereign (Hunter Laing)

Rating: 9/23 I hear that Cameronbridge produces a lot of grain whisky. A lot a lot. It's clear that their whisky is primarily intended for blends, but it seems like at 23 years it should be possible to get a good single grain from here. N: Not much happening here. Buttery like a flaky pie crust with some lemon curd and lime. Leaving it to open for a bit, I get a fairly similar nose with the lemon and lime at the fore, but leaning toward some lemon curd and pastry. There's a hint of that Balcones Single Malt tart yeast. There's also a lot of alcohol though, so this is really not a great nose. P: The palate is disappointingly hot - though at such a high proof, it does have reason to be hot. It has a big, long burn. There is some nice butter to it, but it isn't smooth as I'd hoped. There's that lemon as well, but it doesn't actually taste like lemon curd. I get a hint of wax and a slight allusion to grain, with a little bit of faint toastiness and maybe a vague sense of wood and artificial caramel. but that's really about it. Some mineral sweetness. Leaving it for a bit, it's still very hot, but it's more buttery with a nice viscosity. I really get that lemon curd and pasty flavor more now and the alcohol is less assertive. There's still hotness, alcohol, and a bit of a weird combination of lime with artificial sweetener. Water opens it up a bit, bringing out some wood and highlighting the toasty notes, but it doesn't get rid of the artificial sweetener and it really does a number on the butteriness without really toning down the harshness either. I'm not sure that I like it better with water. F: The lemon and a mineral sweetness are big on the finish. The other flavors are there a tiny bit, most notably a faint butteriness, but not a ton. It's really a poor conclusion to a bad dram. As it fades into the far distance, I do get some nice buttery breadiness. That was really all I needed from this whisky - I didn't have high expectations. If it were just that flavor, I could appreciate its uniqueness and light hedonism despite its lack of complexity and give it a good rating. Leaving it to air out for about half an hour, the finish is richer, kind of like a pastry crust. It's a bit toasty, but not sweet. With water added, the butter really does come back a lot more on the finish. I do quite enjoy this finish. and the glass is quite nice to smell after finishing the dram as well because the alcohol has been removed, leaving just that nice light buttery tart au citron. I don't like this. The nose is harsh and fairly flat and the palate has the one buttery note and a couple of flaws without being very complex. The finish has a nice pastry butteriness, but that doesn't redeem it. So we've got boring nose, sub-standard palate, and good finish. This is absolutely a step up from Pure Scot, but it's a step down from Carn Mor's Cambus 27 (1990). I guess that puts it in the 8-11 range. Any of those numbers would be disastrously bad for a 23 year old scotch. I think I'm actually on the border of 9 to 10 and I'm going with 9. It's less harsh than Pure Scot and has a nice butteriness, but it's also less complex. The Cambus, on the other hand, really makes a statement.