Scotch Whisky Review: Closed Distilleries Edition — Imperial 1996 Single Cask Nation 24 Year Old
If you are a fan of Imperial, I think you’ll like this one!
Imperial 1996 Single Cask Nation 24 Year Old / 56.4%
Tasted neat
This is the first Imperial in the late 1996 vintage I have reviewed, a 24 year old from the Jewish Whisky Company / Single Cask Nation. One of just 186 bottles, it was distilled april 1996 and laid to rest in second-fill bourbon barrel #3420 before being bottled in september 2020.
The bottle notes read:
Candy sweetness and herbaceous minerality on the nose and
palate give way to fresh citrus and building oak spice
before finishing on honeyed, peppery notes.Note that now-mothballed Imperial was last active in 1998, and that the last few years of production did not have a good reputation for excellence. Today, new distillery Dalmunach has been built on the Imperial site.
- Color: russet (1.3)
- Nose: vanilla, cream, lemon cake, and rosewater
- Taste: rich custard, chalky oak, crème brûlée, lime sorbet; grassy notes
- Finish: medium length, full-bodied honey drizzled over vanilla ice cream
The nose starts off closed, and unpromising but opens up with some time in the glass. From the get-go, the flavour is rich and as good an Imperial as I can say I’ve ever had the pleasure to enjoy.
Rating: 93/100
