Whisky: Invergordon 29 Year, Barrel to Bottle

Country/Region: Scotland/Highland Grain

ABV: 57.9%

Cask: First Fill Tennessee Whisky

Age: 29 Years (Distilled 16 May 1990, Bottled June 2019)

Nose: Vanilla, wood, and spice. Creamy homemade vanilla ice cream came to mind, along with notes of sweet rice pudding, creamed corn, and gentle pepper spice. Loads of oaky vanilla permeated the dram with subtle wood oil and bergamot in the background.

Palate: Medium-bodied with crisp notes of wood, vanilla, and cream. With a creamy, velvety mouthfeel came oaky vanilla, pepper, and baking spice notes. A bit spirited at first, once the dram settled banana pudding notes, Nilla wafer cookies, and hazelnut appeared. Green banana, clotted cream, and floral-vanilla Early Grey tea lingered at the end.

Finish: Sweet with notes of pepper, cookies, and cream.

Score: 6

Mental Image: Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

Notes: I could not decide if this reminded me of cookies and cream ice cream or a banana pudding pie. It sat somewhere between, and if there is such thing as cookies and cream banana ice cream, that is what this was. Though I scored them the same, I thought this was a notch or two better than its sister cask. It leaned more toward vanilla, cream, and banana rather than coconut, which I found more to my taste. I thought it was more spirited upfront while less tannic and drying on the finish. It felt less like an oak bomb, though oaky notes were prominent, and more like a sweet delicious grain whisky pudding.

Overall, a solid single grain whisky with an impressive age statement at a competitive price. I do not think this is the kind of dram you want a closet full of, but it is nice to have a sweet mellow single grain to pull out when the occasion calls.

Image Credit: Cellar.com