Whisky Review: Pearls of Scotland Invergordon 42 Year 1972/2015

Not much to say about Invergordon that wasn't covered in the review of the younger Maltbarn release.

This was distilled in December 1972, filled into what was probably an ex-bourbon cask, and bottled in April 2015 at 46.6% without coloring or chill filtration.

Pearls of Scotland Invergordon 42 Year 1972/2015

Nose: lots of polished oak, fresh sawdust, sweet baked corn, a touch of Invergordon coconut, caramel/toffee, milk chocolate. After adding a few drops of water the sawdust takes over and pushed out the more polished oak, the coconut tucks into the oak, and the caramel is tamped down, and some vanilla comes out.

Taste: gobs of sweet oak and corn, some juicier fruit/raisin notes around the middle, then drier oak/sawdust and corn near the back. After dilution the oak gets a bit brighter but also expands across the palate and mostly washes out the fruit.

Finish: dry corn and oak, light coconut,

This is a big old oak bomb that will likely appeal to bourbon fans more than most single malt drinkers. With that said, I've had ten year old bourbons that hit a lot of the same notes for a tiny fraction of the price. Despite decades in the cask, this spirit doesn't seem to have developed much in the way of complexity. I suspect that a teenage Invergordon in a fresh oak or first-fill ex-bourbon cask would come pretty close. But that all comes with the caveat that this was a rather small sample and it's possible that I could have gotten more out of this with time and water. The folks reviewing it on WhiskyBase have a much higher opinion of it than I do.

Whisky Review: Maltbarn Invergordon 27 Year 1988/2015

Invergordon is the only remaining grain whisky distillery in Scotland outside the Lowlands. Owned by Whyte & Mackay, it is the only remaining grain whisky distillery that exclusively uses maize. It churns out a vast 40 million liters of spirit every year. As with other grain distilleries, only a minuscule fraction of this output is bottled as single grain whisky, but a decent number of casks make their way into the hands of independent bottlers.

This was distilled in 1988, filled into an ex-bourbon cask, and bottled in 2015 at 51.3% without coloring or chill filtration.

Maltbarn Invergordon 27 Year 1988/2015

Nose: acetone, coconut, diacetyl, corn, marshmallow/pink bubblegum, dry grass, musty oak. After adding a few drops of water the corn and coconut notes integrate, some light perfume, a touch of raisin, and toasted oak come out.

Taste: very sweet, increasingly creamy/buttery, coconut overtones, big artificial fruit flavor around the middle, becoming more drying with bigger coconut towards the back. After dilution the sweetness becomes more clearly corn based, the coconut transforms into raisin, the buttery character is amplified and spreads out, and more oak comes out at the back giving it a more bitter character.

Finish: dry corn grain, slightly bitter grass/oak, coconut

The difference between the maize-based mashes used by Invergordon and the wheat-based mashes used by most other modern grain distillers couldn't be more clear. The coconut notes seem to be a hallmark of Invergordon, which can be off-putting for a lot of people, but water tames some of that character and makes it more approachable. This is something I could see myself drinking and using effectively in blends, but given that it ran around $130, the value isn't there. At half that price, maybe, but I have yet to try a grain whisky that was anywhere near as good as a comparably priced malt.