Cambus 29 Year Old
Single Grain Scotch Whisky
Comparing Different Barrels From Different Independent Bottlers
$100 (each, duh)
Why Compare Two Different Independent Bottlings?
Both are Cambus 29 year Old, cask strength, distilled in 1988. No way I was going to review them without satisfying my own curiosity by doing a side-by-side! Plus – trying to differentiate two reviews in the table of contents for ‘Cambus 29 Year Old’ felt a bit silly. Oh – and having just put this template together for the Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye, felt I might as well get more mileage out of it!
The Bottle Details
The Sovereign
| Old Particular
| |
|---|---|---|
Picked By | Selected by and bottled exclusively for K&L Wines | Specially Selected for K&L Wines |
ABV | 44.6% | 46.9% |
Distilled | September 1988 | September 1988 |
Bottled | July 2018 | September 2017 |
Age | 29 Years, 10 Months | 29 Years |
Cask Type | Refill Hogshead | Refill Hogshead |
Bottles | 266 | 281 |
Additional Notes | Cask Ref: HL15269 Non chill-filtered, Natural Colour Natural Cask Strength | Cask Ref DL12138 No Chill Filtration, No Colouring Natural Cask Strength |
Tasting Notes | A fragrant nose of sandalwood, coconut, toffee and vanilla. More toffee on the palate along with fruity notes of orange, apple and papaya. A gentle, satisfying, medium length finish rounds things off. | Nose: Opens with a delicate and fresh quality with a hint of lime Palate: Gentle spice then moving to vanilla toffee and sweet cereals Finish: Distinct spices which warm gently, and lightly burnt sugar |
What Gary Says
The Sovereign | Old Particular | |
|---|---|---|
| Nose: | Butter cream frosting, canned peaches and pears, subtle oak, hint of mandarin orange, ginger, heather. | Butter cream frosting, subtle caramel sauce, touch of pears and limes, sandalwood, heather. |
| Palate: | Sweet and fruity, a bit of toffee before cinnamon and pepper break in, butterscotch, honey. | Rich mouthfeel, sweet with gentle fruit notes, rich toffee and butterscotch before spice notes kick in, bringing cinnamon with a soft pepper spice followed by honey. |
| Finish: | Moderately long with honey and a herbal dryness. | Long and wet with lingering spice notes and brown sugar. |
| Comments: | A nice well aged single grain. Not the mouthfeel I had hoped for given its age, but a lovely dram none the less. Single grain Scotch whisky is quite a bit more delicate than single malt. Don’t expect a 29 yr old single grain to be like a 29 yr old single malt – it almost certainly won’t be (in fact the word “single” and the country of origin may be about all they have in common). It isn’t my favorite genre of whisky, but I can appreciate it for what it is. And in the case of this bottle – dangerously drinkable! | In the glass this was the darker of the two pours (not “dark” by any stretch, but The Sovereign had more of a faint yellow tint where this tends more towards golden). This was a tad more rich on both the nose and the mouthfeel of the palate, and also had a longer finish. Very similar for sure – the differences are pretty nuanced. I personally preferred this one of the two, but not by a wide enough margin to bump the rating to a “Must Try”. |
Rating: | Stands Out | Stands Out |