I believe the oldest Imperial whisky I tried was the 33 year old Recollection release from Gordon & MacPhail. Today we’ll top this with a 34 year old bottled by Elixir Distillers in the Director’s Special series. I also dug up a sparring partner, a 30 year old version from the same series.
Around ten years ago Imperial, even though it was a closed distillery, was fairly common among independent bottlers. Always a joy to try this deeply fruity spirit, often slightly tropical and nicely waxy.
Imperial 34 yo (41,1%, Single Malts of Scotland ‘Director’s Special’ 2023, bourbon cask, 162 btl.)
Nose: quite special. It starts with warm waxy notes, hints of vanilla pods and light honey. A lot of wax candles. After that it turns towards sheep wool and fresh nuts, as well as some cardamom and hay. Old fabrics. Then even a whiff of apricot lambic (De Cam perhaps) and mild resinous touches.
Mouth: delicate, hesitating between nice syrupy notes (apricot, guava, pink grapefruit and honeycomb) and more mineral elements. Wax candles again, with canvas and gorse. Then light herbal teas, mild tobacco leaves and a light hint of pepper. It’s fragile: this couldn’t have aged for much longer, but on the other hand it’s certainly not woody or too weak.
Finish: medium, with more herbal tea, echoes of yellow fruits (peach) and hints of basil.
The fruitiness is still there, but in a slightly thinner, more mineral way. Less of a ‘fruit salad whisky’, more of an old-school Highlander. Really good. Only seen at LMdW.
Imperial 30 yo (54,8%, Elixir Distillers 2020, bourbon barrel, 140 btl.)
Nose: obviously a sister cask. The same style of Clynelish-like waxes, along with yellow fruits and honey. Hints of tropical fruits and light leather. Then growing lemon peels, resinous notes and pickled fruits. A similarly vertical take on Imperial, but a tad rounder and warmer than the 34 year old.
Mouth: a fruity core but the waxy and resinous notes take over. Gorse oil, sunflower oil, hints of lemon peels, candles, leading to herbal extracts and more resin. Hints of verbena and camphor, with a wee earthy note. Far less fragile than the 34 year old.
Finish: long and herbal, with zesty notes and lightly earthy oak.
Both are more austere than some of the Imperial casks we had ten years ago, but the balance with the wonderful fruitiness is still nice. Seen at The Whisky Exchange, but sold out. Score: 90/100