IMPERIAL 1976 - DOUGLAS LAING - OLD MALT CASK

Imperial Distillery in Carron, Speyside... where should I start? a lot of Imperial has been drunk since, like with Caperdonich, a certain well known whisky ambassador (back then with one indie bottler, but now with another) started the gospel of this forgotten distillery.

Again, like with Caperdonich, things soon started to catch on and more and more bottlings saw the light of day and now Imperial has a loyal group of followers/drinkers.

Sadly the distillery was closed/mothballed back in 1998 and the site has sadly seen some copper scavengers in the last few years, but now its gone forever. Current site owners Chivas/Pernod Ricard started demolishing the site around New Years 2012/2013, currently only leaving the old warehouses and are to build a new super distillery on the grounds... this gave Imperial Distillery a good 100 years (built 1897) on and off production on the site - Will the new distillery be there for just as long?

Many of the expressions that started hitting the market a while back have been between 12-20yos... Let's see how this older expression compares with them:

Imperial Distillery 26th August 2012 - © The Malt Desk

Imperial 1976 35yo (xx.10.1976/xx.10.2011) 50%, refill sherry butt#DL7431, 443 bottles, Douglas Laing - Old Malt Cask

Colour is straw

Nose:
Oak spicy, then grains, oils, dried (tropical?) fruits, old malt barn and cigar box.

Taste:
Spicy and sherried dried fruit arrival, a bit of nutty bitterness and spices all sorts and a hint of smoke. Water makes the whole thing a lot more creamy and gives it a nice natural sweet caramel and huge malt finish with hints of wood.

So sad to see this lovely old place gone and last but not least its malt!
This is a lovely expression for sure! RIP Imperial!

89/100!