Secret Grain Distillery 43 1976 The Daily Dram – Classics with a Twist

A while back I picked up a sample of a 34-year-old grain whisky, and since then I’ve wanted to try an older one and explore that realm a bit more. I was placing an order from a new site that happened to have one at a price I was comfortable with so here we are. I’ve seen speculation from retailers that due to the age this is likely to have come from Invergordon, but I don’t know that for sure, nor do I know if there’s any basis to that speculation.

Secret Grain Distillery 43, 1976 Vintage, The Daily Dram, Scotland Single Grain, 45.1% ABV

Minutia: Distilled in 1976, matured for 43 years, and bottled in 2020. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Amber; 0.7.

Nose: Dried fruit, stone fruit, vanilla/bourbon, lemon meringue pie (a combo of lemon crème and pastry), green/fresh.

Taste: Peachy, bitter, creamy, woody. The peaches were massive on the first sip, more subdued over the dram, but not to the point where it became faint.

Finish: Peach, cereal, spices. Long. 

I like it, and the peachy bit is really nice, but for my palate it’s missing a lot of what I enjoy, namely smoke. I guess it’s lacking what has helped a number of other unpeated drams get there for me. It’s a fine value, and worth a try, but for me it’s just not terribly compelling to me beyond a note or two I enjoy.

Score: 81

Musical Evocation: Frank Zappa – “Peaches en Regalia”

Cameronbridge 34 1984 Signatory Vintage

I’ve been curious about single grain Scotch for a while and was looking to try a proper, well aged single grain that is its own thing, not part of a blend, but it isn’t super available (at least not at prices to “see what it’s about”). Fortunately I was placing an order and they happened to have this so I gave it a shot.

Cameronbridge 34 1984, Signatory Vintage, Lowland Single Grain, 49.8% ABV

Minutia: Distilled on March 12, 1984, matured in a hogshead numbered 19307, bottled on July 24, 2018 yielding 217 bottles. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Burnished, 1.1.

Nose: Popcorn, some nut, bit of fruit maybe citrus, like an old fashioned smells.

Taste: Slight off-note like an orange peel, butter, cola candy flavor.

Finish: Medium. Maltiness persists long. Cereal probably is a better descriptor for what I’m detecting as malty, as it turns into that unflavored Cheerio type aftertaste toward the end.

I’m not converted to grain over malt whisky, nor am I compelled to put in tremendous effort to get my hands on more, but I do want to explore it further. It was different from malt whisky, but not by all that much, and I quite appreciated it as I’ve been looking to distance myself from smoke for a bit and let my palate restabilize.

Score: 85