Convalmore 1981 - 16 Year Old - First Cask - Single Cask 89/604/110

Convalmore is one of the greatest lost Speyside distilleries of modern times. The distillery was founded in 1893, and was part of the Buchanan’s stable when the latter joined Distillers Company Limited in 1925, with much of its operational life spent producing whisky for the Black & White blend. Convalmore was expanded in the 1960s before being mothballed by DCL in 1985 and sold to neighbours William Grant & Sons, whose Glenfiddich and Balvenie distilleries adjoin the Convalmore site.

Almost unknown during its operational lifetime, Convalmore’s deliciously old school waxy, fruity malt whisky was championed in the 1980s by indie bottlers including Gordon & MacPhail and Cadenhead’s.  Convalmore’s first ever official bottling was a superb Rare Malts Edition in 2003, almost twenty years after the distillery had closed its doors, and subsequent Diageo Special Release Convalmores in 2005, 2013 and 2017 also met with universal acclaim.

The First Cask range was a prolific series of single malt whisky bottlings by the UK’s largest mail order wine company Direct Wines Ltd, owner of Laithwaite’s and The Sunday Times Wine Club. From the early 1990s until the mid-Noughties Direct Wines released dozens of outstanding single cask whiskies annually under the First Cask label, almost all of which were bottled at 46%.

These whiskies were not particularly highly sought-after on release, probably because they were only sold online through a wine club.  Back then, of course, it was not widely known that the casks had been sourced from Signatory Vintage, which would certainly have raised their profile among whisky fans. Nowadays, although still frequently excellent value at auction, the First Cask collection - which includes hundreds of long-aged whiskies from distilleries including Brora, Port Ellen, Ardbeg and Macallan - is finally getting the recognition it deserves.