Cask No. 53.389

The Vaults Collection 

Cask No. 53.389

Goodnight and joy

Islay

GOLD Medal 2022 World Spirits Competition

A haunting and evocative nose that brimmed with undulating and soft notes of seawater, green olives, red diesel, mercurochrome, Fisherman's Friends, eucalyptus throat sweets, peppered mackerel, natural tar extracts and smoked German beers. The kind of aroma you could go on picking notes from for hours. Water brought the warmth of mustard seed, gorse, heather ales, dried wildflowers, smoky struck minerals, aged Geuze beers, salted almonds and steel wool. Beautifully complex and intricate. The neat palate unspooled like a morass of salted mead, herbal vinaigrette, smoked olive oil, hot smoked sardines, salted butter, chicory, fish sauce, petrol and fresh oysters smothered in lime juice. Reduction brought a hyper-fresh and pure, almost crystalline minerality. Salinity, petrol jelly, crushed aspirin, sun-dried seaweed, rock pools encrusted with fizzing barnacles and simmering pasta water.

Cask: Refill Sherry butt
Age: 30 years
Date distilled: June 1991
Alcohol: 55.5%
USA allocation: 84 bottles

About The Vaults Collection:

The Vaults Collection is a selection of the finest and rarest single cask, single malt whisky, set aside from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s most remarkable stocks over the years. They have been released from the depths of our treasure trove of casks, after decades of slow maturation and careful nurturing. The Vaults Collection represents the whisky lover’s dream: A chance to journey back into whisky history, including the opportunity to experience styles or distilleries that no longer exist. The Collection takes its name from the Society’s historical home at The Vaults in Leith, Scotland’s oldest commercial building in continuous use whose connection with the drinks world dates back to the 12th century. Each bottle has a specially designed label and is offered in a beautiful wooden box.