Origin: Lowland (Scotland)
Type: Single Grain Scotch Whisky
Strength: 56.2%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex bourbon refill
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Diageo
Average price: € 315.00
Official website: –
Vote: 83/100
Here is one of the two biggies of Diageo’s 2022 Special Releases, with an important ageing for a single-grain distillery at its first entry in the series.
Important as well as the price, which for a single grain seems a tad out of scale, but after all it celebrates a legend according to which a brave knight forged a crown after a spirited battle lasting 26 years. Plunging into the Ore River in triumph, he carried aloft his flag, whose long cerulean ribbons dissolved in the quiet flow of the river, transforming the water into sweet, silky gold. It was there that the majestic distillery was born and, as the story goes, every 26 years since then the river returns to gold, with its lustrous character present in every glass.
A side note to the way the name is written on the label: in the late 19th century, this was the spelling and not the contemporary all-sticky one, Cameronbridge. It can therefore be read as a homage to the past.
Tasting notes
In case there were any doubts, the first aroma to rise from the glass is that of solvent and almonds typical of grain, which while remaining dominant is softened by a slight note of shortcrust pastry and butter. Crème fraîche, sugar paste, candied pear, cereal biscuits and a hint of vanilla punctuate the evocations, which along the length show a fresh, vegetal side, of hay and chamomile, rather unexpected given its age. Not exactly appetising, but with a certain personality.
On the palate it becomes more appealing, the solvent note goes subterranean and opens the field to a warm and spicy (nutmeg, ginger and aniseed) mouthfeel of coffee, honey, cocoa powder, caramel, roasted hazelnuts and sour cream again. A composed sweetness, at times austere. Wood incursions in length, embodied in pencil shavings.
Quite long and dry finish, where we return to the notes of the nose with the solvent still in the foreground accompanied by almonds, wood, ginger and honey.
Putting aside the question of price, somewhat like its peers, this bottling is not so ‘elusive’, nor is it incisive: it gives satisfaction on the palate but without clamour, while the nose and finish appear largely underwhelming.