Coleburn 1978-1995 - 17 Year Old - Cadenheads Authentic Collection - Single Cask

Coleburn whisky distillery was founded in Speyside in 1897 and was owned by Diageo forerunner Distillers Company Limited (DCL) from 1915 until it closed in 1985. Coleburn's malt was old-school Highland style and the distillery was instrumental in early experiments on effluent purification techniques. Coleburn distillery is now the HQ of warehousers and bottlers Aceo Ltd.

Almost all of Coleburn’s whisky was blended away, and very little has survived as single malt - the only official bottling was an outstanding 1979 vintage Rare Malts Edition released in 2000. Aceo released a blended Scotch whisky under the Coleburn name in 2018 but it’s unlikely to have Coleburn single malt in it. Coleburn independent bottlings are rare, but generally very high quality. Gordon & MacPhail are the only company to have bottled Coleburn single malt since 2011, so the last casks may soon be exhausted.

In 1842 George Duncan established a wine merchant and distillery agency business in Aberdeen. Duncan was joined in the early 1850s by his brother-in-law William Cadenhead, who took over the business after Duncan’s death in 1858, changing the company’s name to Wm. Cadenhead. When Cadenhead died in 1904 the company passed to his nephew Robert Duthie, who developed the spirits side of the business.

Duthie died suddenly in 1931, and employee Ann Oliver was put in charge of Cadenhead’s. Sadly, Oliver’s tenure ended in financial difficulty and on her retirement in 1972 the business was forced to sell its entire inventory. Cadenhead’s was acquired soon afterwards by J & A Mitchell, proprietors of Springbank distillery, who relocated the business to Campbeltown. Cadenhead’s has flourished under Mitchell’s stewardship, releasing many legendary single malt bottlings in the 1980s and 1990s and now has outlets in Edinburgh and London as well as Campbeltown.