Highland Single Grain Scotch Whisky

Invergordon distillery exclusively produces grain whisky. And that on large scale: With its production capacity of currently around 36 million liter, it is among the biggest whisky distilleries in Scotland. The distillery was founded in the city Invergordon (around 20km north of Inverness) in 1959, and it is the only grain distillery in the Scottish Highlands. The first New Make was produced in 1961. The Still House is home to four Coffey Stills, the distilling apparatus typically used for producing grain whisky.

Almost the entire production outturn goes into the blended whisky brands of Whyte & Mackay, the distillery owners. There is just one (nowadays extremely rare) single grain bottling of Invergordon whisky ever released by the owners themselves, at least to our knowledge. Likewise, Invergordon distillates are only sporadically available from independent bottlers. We, at DramCatcher, are all the more happy to be able to present this wonderful bottling of a 50 years old Single Grain Scotch Whisky.

At DramCatcher, we strongly believe that in most cases grain whiskies require a (very) long cask maturation to gain the quality required for a single cask bottling. But then, they may be nothing short of spectacular. In our view, this bottling is a very fine testimony.

Whisky Fun (Serge Valentin) has published tasting notes on www.whiskyfun.com on 27 February 2024, and rated our Invergordon with 90 points. The tasting notes can be read under News.

A tasting video by Whiskynotes CS can be found on YouTube:

#186. INVERGORDON 1972 - 50yo - 41.5%Vol. - Hogshead - by Dramcatcher

Tasting notes from Whisky-news.com

And whiskynotes.be reviewed our Invergordon too: Invergordon / North British / Cameronbridge | review (whiskynotes.be)

Our personal tasting notes:

Colour: Like antique furniture made of old oak wood.

Nose: Countless aromas, fine and complexly interwoven. WOW, what a start! As if you were sitting in the whisky bar of a historic Scottish clan-house. Old leather and oak wood. Dried tobacco leaves. Caramelised sugar (toffee), still hot, and with just a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg and orange peal. Roasted nuts. All embraced by the odor of a large basket filled with freshly peeled banana, papaya, mango, and khaki. An abundance of pure honey. The ensemble feels heavy and thick.

Palate: Surprisingly fresh. Toffee or Crème Brulée? And then again, the exotic fruits. A touch coconut, vanilla and some floral notes. Dried herbs in the backyard. Reminiscences of old rums made of thick sugar-cane molasses. And honey, lots of!

Finish: leather, oak wood, dried tobacco and caramel bisquits round off the tasting experience and close the circle that started with the nosing aromas. The herbs become a wee bit more prominent and are complemented by a trace of coffee and milk chocolate. Full-bodied and sticky. The finish is – rather untypically for grain whiskies – long and lasting.

Verdict: A masterpiece. History caught in a bottle. Recipe for an unforgettable evening: time and leisure, an intriguing book (or a classic movie), flaring flames in the chimney and a dram of this exquisite grain whisky. It won't end with that single dram. Guaranteed…