Cameronbridge 40yo 1982/2022

Cameronbridge 40yo 1982/2022

Whisky Broker
Single grain - Lowlands
Bright gold 
50.1% ABV
Dram

Nose: Vanilla, white pepper, mace, corn syrup, honey, tangerines, hints of toffee. 
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, thickens, tingly, syrupy. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Vanilla, oatcakes, chocolate, corn syrup, mace, greengages, hints of tangerines, hints of white grapes. 
Finish: Short. Greengages, oatcakes, corn syrup, mace, white grapes. 

Comments: 

Excellent, well aged old grain. Very good and pleasant mouth feel, thick and luscious, with a lot of citrus and oats. It’s almost malty. Very enjoyable dram.

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Cameronbridge 31yo 1989/2021

Cameronbridge 31yo 1989/2021

Warehouse Tasting, WM Cadenhead
Single grain - Lowlands
Bright gold
59.8% ABV
Dram

Nose: Cornflakes, sunflower seeds, orange juice, white pepper, vanilla, honey. With water, cornflakes, coconut milk, vanilla. 
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, tingly, hot, syrupy. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Raisins, damson jam, honey, white pepper, orange juice, cornflakes, hay, hints of photocopy paper. With water, saltier, sea salt, hay, damson jam, white pepper, cooked rice, photocopy paper.  
Finish: Long. Vanilla, sunflower seeds, white pepper, honey, hints of cooked rice. 

Comments: 

A rather sweet and fruity single grain, but not lighter stone fruit. Instead it’s jammy and raisiny, alongside some very interesting grassy and feinty notes. Heaps of cereal too, a very enticing combination indeed.

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Cameronbridge 30yo 1990/2020

Cameronbridge 30yo 1990/2020

Old Particular, Douglas Laing
Single grain - Lowlands
Bright gold
51.5% ABV
Dram

Nose: Almond butter, limes, lemon zest, popcorn, vanilla cream, hints of toffee, hints of orange liqueur. With water, oats, vanilla cream, pencil erasers. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, thickens, hot, oily. 
Tasting:  Bitter sweet. Vanilla cream, pencil erasers, almond butter, toffee, lemon zest, hints of orange liqueur. With water, sweeter, vanilla cream, toffee, milk chocolate, pencil erasers. 
Finish: Medium. Oats, orange liqueur, limes, popcorn, hints of pencil erasers. 

Comments: 

A slightly atypical old grain. It’s not very sweet, instead it’s for some sulphury, rubbery notes, citrus, and a heap of nut butter. It opens up with water, turning cereally and chocolatey.

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Cameronbridge 25yo 1992/2017 (TWE Exclusive)

Cameronbridge 25yo 1992/2017 (TWE Exclusive)

Creative Whisky Company
Single grain - Lowlands
Dark amber
57.7% ABV
Dram

Nose: Toffee, raisins, dark chocolate, candied orange peel, tutti frutti, hints of jasmine. With water, black tea, salted caramel, raisins, orange peel. 
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, loosens, turns airy, mouth coating. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Raisins, dark chocolate, tutti frutti, vanilla, pear drops, cinnamon, hints of candied orange peel. With water, salted caramel, raisins, orange peel, red grapes. 
Finish: Medium. Dark chocolate, orange peel, fresh baked bread, vanilla, hints of cinnamon. 

Comments: 

Sweet and spicy, this grain is also luscious and rich. The mouthfeel is excellent, almost malty, but there’s a not a lot of cereal in the flavours. There’s quite a lot of complexity, with spices wreathed through it.

Verdict:

I like this.

Cameronbridge 27yo Batch 3

Cameronbridge 27yo Batch 3

That Boutique-y Whisky Company, Master of Malt
Single grain - Lowlands
Yellow gold
48.9% ABV
Dram

Nose: Peaches, lemon sweets, vanilla, desiccated coconut, cornflakes, rolled oats. 
Mouthfeel: Heavy body, thickens, syrupy, tingly. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Rolled oats, vanilla, waxed paper, cornflakes, desiccated coconut, sultanas, hints of peaches. 
Finish: Short. Cornflakes, rolled oats, lemon sweets, sultanas. 

Comments: 

Pretty decent aged grain. Cameronbridge is very subtle when younger, but the age and wood seems to have created a brightly flavoured cereally whisky. Quite enjoyable and refreshing. 

Verdict:

I like this.

Cameronbridge 24yo 1992/2017

Cameronbridge 24yo 1992/2017

Single Cask, Master of Malt
Single grain - Lowlands
Golden
51% ABV
Dram

Nose: Caramel, butterscotch, toffee, raisins, vanilla ice cream, hints of white grapes. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, thickens, syrupy, sticky.  
Tasting:  Sweet sour. Chocolate, white grapes, dried apples, barley sugar, butterscotch. 
Finish: Short. Mint, chocolate, butterscotch, vanilla ice cream, walnuts, hints of white grapes.  

Comments: 

Cask 115043. Decent aged grain, lots of vanilla sweetness and some fruit. I like the gentleness of this dram, it’s got some complexity but you have to work to find it. 

Verdict:

I like this.

Cameronbridge 34yo 1984/2018

Cameronbridge 34yo 1984/2018

Vintage, Signatory
Single grain - Lowlands
Beeswax 
49.8% ABV
Dram

Nose: Honey, tobacco leaf, coconut jam, vanilla, orange peel, hints of cream soda. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, tingly, astringent, hot.  
Tasting:  Sour. Tobacco leaf, hay, coconut cream, cream soda, vanilla, leather, hints of fish sauce. 
Finish: Long. Caramel, hay, orange peel, vanilla, olive oil, cream soda. 

Comments: 

Cask 19307. This is really excellent grain whisky, it’s light but retains a huge amount of complexity. Not a lot of the sweet tutti-frutti vanilla flavour that characterises much grain whisky, instead it’s herbal and grassy, with some leathery tobacco complexity. Shame grain whisky takes so long to age properly. 

Verdict:

I like this a lot. 

Cameronbridge 27yo 1991/2018

Cameronbridge 27yo 1991/2018

Chairman's Choice, Douglas Laing
Single grain - Lowlands
Dark gold 
54.5% ABV
Dram

Nose: Vanilla, coconut, salt caramel, cotton candy, lemon zest, hints of green olive. With water, coconut cream, chocolate, cotton candy. 
Mouthfeel: Light body, warm, loosens, airy. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Vanilla, honey, coconut, fresh baked bread, hints of oats. With water, sweeter, toast, oats, chocolate. 
Finish: Medium. Brown sugar, vanilla, coffee, coconut. 

Comments: 

Cask DL12492. I can't believe that this is the same stuff as Haig Club. It's fragrant and flavourful, with a cereally undernote that freshens everything up. Excellent grain whisky.

Verdict:

I like this a lot.

Haig Club

Haig Club

Official bottling
Single grain - Lowlands
Pale bronze
40% ABV
Dram

Nose: Baking bread, orange peel, apples, bananas, hints of lemon juice. 
Mouthfeel: Medium body, thickens slightly, oily, mouth coating. 
Tasting:  Sweet. Vanilla, orange peel, baking bread, apples, raisins, hints of yeast . 
Finish: Short. Vanilla, orange peel, apples, toast, malted grains. 

Comments: 

Single grain whisky from Cameronbridge. Marketing fronted by David Beckham, intended to make grain whisky look cool. Actually, it's not half bad. It manages to avoid the sweet fruity estery mode favoured by most grains, and instead features baking bread, yeasty, and - yes - grainy flavours. Good apples too, with faint notes of bananas on the nose, just to remind me it's a grain whisky. And for some reason, I really, really like the colour.

Verdict:

I like this.

SMWS G4.6 (Cameronbridge 18 yo 1988/2006)

SMWS G4.6 (Cameronbridge 18 yo 1988/2006)

2014, SMWS
Single grain - Lowlands
Golden
55.4% ABV
Dram

Nose: Apples, lemons, cola nuts, golden syrup, hints of cloves, hints of cinnamon.
Mouthfeel: Medium body, thickens, spicy, tingly.
Tasting:  Sweet. Cola nuts, apples, lemons, toast, scotch bonnets, cloves, cinnamon.
Finish: Long. Scotch bonnets, cola nuts, cinnamon.

Comments:

For some odd reason, this whisky appears to have spent 8 years in the bottle before being released by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. It's as fruity as a fruity fruitcake, and has lovely cola nut notes, very unusual in my experience. Delicious grain whisky.

Verdict:

I like this.

SMWS G4.1 (Cameronbridge 29 yo 1979/2008)

SMWS G4.1 (Cameronbridge 29 yo 1979/2008)

2008, SMWS
Single grain - Lowlands
Sun gold
53% ABV
Dram

Nose: Vanilla, apricots, mint, raisins, brown paper, liquorice, oranges, hints of rose.
Mouthfeel: Light body, hot, volatile, turns watery.
Tasting: Sweet. Apricots, orange, liquorice, brown paper, raisins, rose, hints of lemons.
Finish: Medium. Brown paper, raisins, apricots.

Comments:

Floral, silky and airy. Quite a refreshing, sweet whisky. There are nice notes of brown paper, which bring to mind thoughts of brandy. It's slightly incongruous, because the body of this whisky is pretty far removed from brandy. There's a harsh little astringent tang at the end.

Verdict:

I like this.