Invergordon 21 Year Old 1994 Douglas Laing Old Particular

The grain distillery Invergordon was built in 1959 and thus relatively young. She is owned by Whyte & Mackay and rarely offers official releases. It can be easily found with independents, though, such as this 21 Year Old from 1994, bottled by Douglas Laing.

The nose starts quite classical on wood glue and vanilla, but after a few minutes of airing some fruit kicks in in the guise of coconut and banana with some Brésilienne nuts. A dried apricot also appears.

The arrival is sturdy and spicy. Loads of wood spices indeed: pepper, ginger, nutmeg. This precedes a rather grand sweetness which is not so much fruity as it is candy-like. I am not surprised that bourbon comes to mind, but this is more fresh and more playful. Some citrus appears. Sugared lime rind. Quite nice. And then all of a sudden some white chocolate appears. Where did that come from?

The finish is medium to long, with a spicy sweetness at the death.

Nice, playful and fresh single grain.