Inchgower 1998-2018 - 20 Year Old - Hunter Laing - Old Malt Cask 20th Anniversary - Single Cask

One of the great unsung Speyside distilleries, Inchgower’s importance to owner Diageo’s blends (particularly Bell’s) is so crucial that it is rarely officially bottled as a single malt. Inchgower’s spirit is known for its robust quality and structure, and is therefore well-suited both to long ageing and to sherry casks, but it also shines in refill bourbon casks where its clean, muscular profile can develop beautifully over longer maturation periods.

Inchgower was officially bottled as a 12-year-old ‘From the House of Bell's’ from the early 1970s until the late 1980s, when it was replaced by the Flora & Fauna 14-year-old. The best official bottlings are a pair of excellent Inchgower Rare Malts from 1974 and 1976 released in 1997 and 2004. Outstanding independent bottlings of 1960s and 1970s Inchgower vintages have been bottled by Cadenhead’s, Douglas Laing, Moon Import and the SMWS, among others.

Hunter Laing was created in 2013 after founder Stewart Laing divided the assets of the Douglas Laing company with his brother Fred Laing Jr.  The new Hunter Laing company received the classic Old Malt Cask and Old & Rare Platinum Selection single malt ranges in the split from Douglas Laing, and Stewart’s sons Andrew and Scott Laing merged their Edition Spirits brand into the new company.

As well as the Old Malt Cask, Old & Rare and First Edition series, Hunter Laing now bottle several new ranges of single malt and grain whisky, including Distiller’s Art, Hepburn’s Choice and the Scarabus brand mystery Islay whisky. In 2017 Hunter Laing began construction of the Ardnahoe distillery on Islay, which produced its first spirit the following year.