Caledonian 28 Year Old 1987 Whiskybroker

Caledonian was a grain distillery near Haymarket in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. Today the buildings have been converted into apartments, because the distillery closed permanently In 1988. I will try a hogshead that was put to sleep in 1987 and bottled four years later by WhiskyBroker. I will put it head-to-head with cask #23883 that was bottled for the German Kirsch Import.

Popcorn with butter, pencil shavings, a truckload of vanilla, young apples in the frying pan and a teaspoon of caramel. There you have it, the nose in a nutshell and I must say I like it a lot.

On the palate it is immediately nicely creamy and honey sweet, as you may expect from a well matured gain whisky. A truckload of vanilla, baked apples with cinnamon, a bit of caramel and quite some white pepper. A salty edge all the way in the back, but gone before you realize it. Vanilla ice, that's what this reminds me of the most.

On the finish, which is medium long, the vanilla arrives first, followed by caramel and then a warm note of the wood, upholstered with a slight bitterness as if from quinine. Nice!

A well matured grain can really be very good, mind you. This is not just a filler for blends, believe me.