Whisky : Cambus 28 Year 1991; Signatory Cask Strength Collection

Country/Region : Scotland/Lowland (Single Grain)

ABV : 58.4%

Cask : Refill Sherry Butt

Age : 28 Years (Distilled 29 May 1991, Bottled 5 Mar. 2020)

Nose : Dense sweet cake and fruit.  Holiday rum butter, Christmas cake, rum baba, and apple cider mulled with cinnamon and peppercorns.  Slightly medicinal cherry, candied nuts, holiday baking spices, and cigar box.  

Palate : Thick and oily with loads of tobacco, wood, and stewed fruit.  High class locker room notes of tobacco scented sauna, spicy aftershave, herbal menthol, and talcum powder.  Fruits came through on the mid palate with a wallop of wood; cherry syrup, orange extract, sandalwood, and old cedar beams.  A faint kiss of salt and candle smoke arrived at the end.

Finish : Lingering dried cherries and boozy sugars.

Score : 7

Mental Image : New Old Spice “Christmas Spice Blast”

Notes : Some of the earlier Cambus I reviewed this year always seemed to be missing something.  This was stuffed full of notes that I do not usually go for, from the heavy sherry fruit, to the strong wood and spice, yet I found myself really enjoying this.  This was rich, thick, and oily with loads of complexity as it transitioned between different layers.  Everything worked so well that this felt perfectly balanced between spice, fruit, and wood with a number of other intriguing notes that just sort of came and went.  

This was excellent and even though the style was not my favorite, I really enjoyed this dram.