Gone Grant is becoming a recurring theme in the Decadent Drinks portfolio. With hints like a sadly lost distillery that rhymes with ‘tap her scone twitch’ we end up at the dismantled sister distillery of Glen Grant.
Last year we had a Gone Grant 1993, now it’s a 1994 vintage from a second fill bourbon barrel.
Gone Grant 30 yo 1994 (51,5%, Decadent Drinks ‘Whiskyland’ 2024, second fill barrel, 215 btl.)
Nose: a rather leafy and chalky start, with beeswax, dried yellow flowers and hints of mint leaves after a while. Then peaches, sunflower oil, dried herbs and honey. Whiffs of tobacco too, along with some old-school dusty books. High complexity, showing a bygone profile.
Mouth: waxy, as expected. Also more mineral and even more austere than expected. Grapefruit, pear and peach, along with proper ale. Then wee touches of aniseed and honey, as well as subtle green herbs again, becoming a bit grassy at times.
Finish: long, quite earthy, with hints of floral honey, light chalky notes and mild pepper.
This is a whisky with a fascinating old style and great waxy notes. Yet I would gladly sacrifice some of its complexity for more of the tropical fruits that we still associate with Caperdonich. Somehow I’m hard to convince of these 1990s Caperdonichs (and the 1993 was better). Available from Decadent Drinks or Royal Mile Whiskies for instance.