Invergordon – Batch 1, That Boutique-y Whisky Company. 41.6%. Although there is no age statement for this release, I know this contains quite a lot of 41yo Invergordon. The bottle has a wonderful illustration of a Coffey still showing the process to produce a grain whisky.

The dram is light to medium gold in colour. At first it smells maybe higher ABV than it is, but at the back there is the unmistakable smell of grain and wood, nice old piles of woody goodness, like an ancient pencil has recently been sharpened. Notes of creamy vanilla come through as if you’ve dropped a good dollop of real vanilla Cornish clotted cream ice-cream into your dram. With a bit more time passing it appears some salt and pepper has been cracked on to the top.

The palate shows the old age by being really gentle, it takes a small while before the flavours start to make their way around your mouth but once they do there’s more brown sugar notes than expected with a lovely warming gently spiced finish that goes on for a good long while. This is a cracking old geezer of a dram in the grand old throws of its life; it’s quietly sitting by a log fire late at night reading a good book, just as you should be.

I’m generally not a fan of grain whisky, or at least have previously had issues with it, but a bottle of this undoes all these previous preconceptions and by its pure quality it works its way into your good books.

Buy a bottle, cos you should.