Imperial Distillery : 33 Year Old Refill American Hogshead Recollection Gordon & MacPhail 1990

Tasting characteristics and advice for the 33 Years Old Refill American Hogshead Recollection Gordon & MacPhail 1990 from Imperial Distillery

Tasting

Nose

The nose reveals exceptional aromatic richness, with intense orange oil, brown sugar, and peanut brittle. Poached pears mingle with clover honey and vibrant pineapple. Notes of banana peel, overripe apples, and redcurrants round out this generous fruity profile, alongside pronounced waxy touches and orange zest.

Palate

The attack brings soft lime and cocoa powder, balanced by crushed black pepper. Ripe green apple comes through fully, followed by spices and a hint of herbal character. Tropical fruits take center stage with bursts of papaya, pink grapefruit, and mint, supported by herbal teas, chamomile, and broom flowers. The finish, full and persistent, delivers tropical fruits alongside lightly gritty toasted oak.

Food pairings and tasting occasions

This 33-year-old single malt is best enjoyed neat, at room temperature, to fully appreciate its complexity and intensity at 52.7%. A few drops of water can reveal additional nuances.

A Speyside single malt of absolute rarity and remarkable intensity

Imperial Distillery: the story of a lost Speyside distillery

Founded in 1897 by Thomas Mackenzie in Carron, in Speyside, Imperial Distillery was built in honor of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, with architecture by Charles Doig. This distillery led a tumultuous existence, closing as early as 1899, then alternating between periods of operation and dormancy until its definitive closure in 1998. Owned by Pernod Ricard since 2005, Imperial was demolished in 2013. Equipped with four stills and a capacity of 1.6 million liters, it primarily supplied the Teacher's and Ballantine's blends. Its only official bottling, a 15-year-old, testifies to its exceptional rarity.

Imperial 1990 33 Years Old: a forgotten masterpiece from the Recollection collection

The Imperial 1990 33 Years Old Refill American Hogshead Recollection Gordon & MacPhail is part of the prestigious Recollection III series launched in 2024 by Gordon & MacPhail, a renowned Scottish independent bottler celebrated for its releases from closed distilleries. This collection brings together “forgotten masterpieces” from distilleries that have disappeared. Distilled in 1990, this single malt was aged for 33 years in a refill American hogshead cask numbered 9825, before being bottled in 2024 at its natural strength of 52.7%. This exceptional cask makes this Imperial 1990 33 Years Old a rare and precious testament to a Speyside distillery that is now gone. This Scotch whisky embodies the excellence and expertise of Gordon & MacPhail in preserving Scotland’s whisky heritage.