Caperdonich 25 Year Old - Small Batch Release 1 - 2019 Release

Built in 1897 as an extension of Glen Grant, Caperdonich distillery was initially named Glen Grant 2, but operated only until 1902 before being mothballed for 63 years. The distillery reopened in 1965, was soon renamed Caperdonich and ran under owners Chivas Brothers until 2002. Caperdonich was sold to the neighbouring Forsyth’s coppersmiths in 2010 and later demolished, though the stills survive at the new Falkirk distillery and Owl distillery in Belgium.

Caperdonich’s whisky was generally very slow-maturing, and was sadly underrated during the distillery’s lifetime. The only official bottling from this period was a rare 1970s 5-year-old for Italy, but Chivas have subsequently released some excellent small batch vintage whiskies, including some of the peated whisky Caperdonich made towards the end of its life. Long-aged indie Caperdonichs from the 1960s and 1970s are usually superb.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.