Caperdonich 29 Year Old

Speyside Single Malt Whisky / 29 Years Old / Hogshead / 58.7% abv / 50cl

They knocked Caperdonich down in 2011. What survived did so in casks, and there are fewer of those every year. This one spent twenty-nine years in a hogshead without anyone bothering it, which turned out to be exactly the right call. Waxy, tropical, unhurried. We'd say they don't make it like this anymore, but in this case that's literally true.

Conspirator's Notes

Nose: Beeswax and overripe mango, dried apricot, a little lanolin. Underneath it all, the quiet hum of antique oak that only twenty-nine years can put there.

Palate: Stewed peach, candied ginger, vanilla cream that shows up late and stays longer than expected. Waxy and unhurried. Exactly what it should be.

Finish: Long and gently drying. Warm spice, honeycomb and that waxy thread that refuses to clock off.