1982 Cambus 35 Year Old "Old Particular" K&L Exclusive Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Grain Scotch Whisky (750ml)

I'm a total sucker for old Cambus. There's a lot of good stuff going on in grain these days, but it's usually with the caveat that it's offering incredible value in exchange for some of the intensity of flavor that a malt might offers. But some people actually prefer the soft smooth character of grain and that small but growing group of discerning drinkers understands that single grain simply represents a different aesthetic, a different set of goals for their connoisseurs. But something about this Cambus puts it into totally different league from the other single grains we sell. The nose is this unusual mixture of sweet vanilla frosting spread old metal machines. Sweet maple syrup drizzled over running diesel engines. It’s full of wild contrasts that don’t seem to make sense, but keep bringing you back to the glass. The crazy nose doesn’t actually transfer to the palate where we’re instead transported into bourbon territory. Super dense fruit, coffee, wild topicality, unctuous and full bodied it offers richness that even some of the 50 year stuff can’t match. It's less concerned with softness than most grain and more about character and complexity. Yet there’s no edgy sharpness to it at all. It’s so perfectly smooth you could calibrate the Hubble Telescope with this whisky. This is why people fall in love with old grain. That said it needs a few drops of water to balance the alcohol and begin to open properly - this will add texture and depth on both the palate and nose.