Caledonian 29 Year Old 1987 Valinch & Mallet

Never heard of Valinch & Mallet? Not to worry, they have not been active on the whisky market for long. The company is run by two Italians, Davide Romano and Fabio Ermoli, with a preference for single cask whisky (but also rum) and they have a couple of nice releases out there, both single malt and single grain. I will try their Caledonian 1987. It is a Lowland single grain you do not see often. The distillery closed its doors in 1988.

The nose is sweet and sour on yellow fruit and green herbs. Some toasted oak and white fruit, including coconut, precede vanilla, ginger and varnish. It certainly is not as candy-like as I would expect and that is a plus. It makes for an interesting nose indeed.

It is wonderfully creamy on the palate and quite fruity. Next to some white fruit, I also get hints of exotic fruit. Thnk pineapple and even some mango. The typical bourbonny notes are prevalent, but still. It also sports a hint of menthol. Quite pleasing as grains go.

The finish is fairly long, with a sweet start and a sour death.

This is a very good, but mostly very interesting grain whisky. Not cheap, though, but then again what whisky from a closed distillery is nowadays? And let’s not forget that this matured for almost three decades. If grain is your thing, then this is your dram.