“King of Grain”
Country: Scotland
Region: Lowland
Brand: Dumbarton 1986 (Scott's Selection)
Type: Single Grain Whisky
Age: 25 Years
ABV: 51.5 %
Colour: Golden Yellow
Nose: Similar to Bourbon but less Sweet. I find Grains, Corn Meal, Charred Oak, Vanilla, Buttered Toast, Fresh Nectarines, Orange, Nuts, Espresso Coffee, light Honey, Heather, Toffee, Nutmeg, Apple Pie stuffed with Raisins and traces of Furniture Wax and Glue. The Alcohol is strong and not fully integrated.
Palate: Sweet Grains are at War with the Sharp Alcohol. Amongst the debris I find Stone Fruit (Apricot, Nectarine, Pear), Orange, Vanilla, Toffee, Oak, Dried Herbs, Pepper, Licorice and Ginger.
Finish: Middle-Long, slightly Edgy and Bitter-Sweet with Nectarine, Orange, Honey, Pear, Nutella, Lemon-Pepper, Charred Oak, light Licorice and some Cinnamon. After a while the Furniture Wax from the Nose reappears.
I added a bit of Water and you will find more Corn, Apricot and Toffee on the Nose. The Alcohol retreats and that's a good thing in this case. On the Palate and in the Finish Spices, Herbs and Licorice start to dominate. In the Finish I detect a slightly Sour Vinegar tone. I recommend to add a few drops when Nosing. But better sip it neat.
Rating: 84
Nose: 21.5 - Taste: 21 - Finish: 20.5 - Overall: 21
Dumbarton "The Way It Used To Be"
General Remarks: The Dumbarton Grain Distillery a.k.a. Inverleven was founded in 1938 by the Canadian Distiller Hiram Walker. It is located in Dumbarton on the Clyde Coast. When Pernod Ricard took over Allied Domecq they also became the owners of Dumbarton. Unfortunately it was closed in 2002, mainly because the production facility was very old and difficult to modify. Instead, production was transferred to Strathclyde where large investments were made. Dumbarton was known for using Corn instead of Wheat. Dumbarton/Inverleven was demolished in 2005.
The Scott's Selection is a collection of Single Malts handpicked by Robert Scott, the former Master Blender at Speyside Distillers in Glasgow. All Single Malts and Grains in this collection are bottled at Cask Strength, are naturally coloured and not Chill-Filtered. The Dumbarton I am tasting today was distilled in 1986 and bottled in 2011. It matured in an Ex-Bourbon Hogshead and costs around 110 US Dollars.
Drinking Experience Neat: Good
Conclusion: This was the first time I tasted a Scottish Single Grain Whisky and I think I was lucky with this 25 Year old Dumbarton! When the Distillery was still active, almost all of the production went into the Chivas Regal Blends. There were no official Distillery Bottlings and only a few Indies popped up from time to time. So I was really looking forward to Nose and Taste this Single Grain. In fact I was pleasantly surprised with the quality. If you would mix this mature Dumbarton with Good Malt Whisky you could create a wonderful Blend. But that's Daydreaming of course. Unfortunately I only had a sample so I couldn't test this idea. The Nose is the best part of this Dumbarton. You will find quite some similarities to Bourbon but it also adds some Aromas of its own. The Fresh Nectarine Note stands out. On the Palate there's a lot more Oak influence and the Alcohol is rather strong. Still, if all Grain Alcohol would smell and taste anywhere near this Dumbarton 25, I wouldn't complain so much about Blended Whiskies!
Jan van den Ende September 3, 2014
