Imperial 1995 Liquid Library 16 yo

 

 

 

46°

Distillery : Imperial - Speyside 

Ex-Bourbon Wood 

Independent Bottling 

By The Whisky Agency 

Limited Edition 

Single Malt 

Bottled in 2011

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

Having closed in 1998 and been demolished in 2013, Imperial is a distillery that has captured the imagination and fuelled legends. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find a bottle at a reasonable price. That is why this one is attracting attention. Aged for just 16 years and matured in Bourbon wood, it should live up to the expectations of many enthusiasts. One small drawback: it is not Cask Strength, but diluted to 46%. Furthermore, nowhere does it state that it is a Single Cask, yet only 194 bottles have been released. Unless they’ve used cask ends, I can’t see how you could blend a whisky that isn’t too old and still end up with just 194 bottles at a reduced alcohol content. 

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

Fully ripe yellow fruits, bursting with juice, squeezed citrus, lemon, grapefruit, mirabelle plums, banana. A hint of oak, beeswax, it is elegant and well-balanced, tarte Tatin, crusty bread with a thick layer of butter, an exotic touch in the background, papaya and mango. On the palate, it is spicy, oily, white grapes, yellow plums, melon juice, fresh walnuts. A long finish, with depth but not overly explosive, dried fruit, apricots, quince jam, figs, chlorophyll, angelica, marshmallow.

 

In Short, 

Due to the dilution, there’s a lack of body which costs it at least one point, but otherwise it’s a very good whisky. The nose in particular is superb, generous with fruit yet also very subtle and elegant. The advantage of the dilution is that it’s a pleasure to drink, it goes down a treat. But it’s the complexity that really catches the eye. You can pick it up at a bargain price at auction, it’s the sort of hidden gem overlooked by the masses that you simply mustn’t miss out on. 

Score : 88 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                             To Be Listened While Sipping : 

 

                                                    The Red Clay Strays - Demons in Your Choir

Imperial 1993 Connoisseurs Choice Cask Strength 28 yo

 

 

 

57,6°

Distillery : Imperial - Speyside

1st Fill Sherry Puncheon Cask 

Independent Bottling 

By Gordon & MacPhail

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2022

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

As time goes by, Imperial casks become rarer but also older. Here, Gordon & MacPhail has saved this one for a rainy day, 28 years old and bursting with Puncheon Sherry. It was released around a year ago in 544 bottles.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

Dried fruits and a gentle coastal breeze, a touch of iodine, apple and grape chutney, dry bark. Sweet spices, cinnamon and cardamom, beeswax, thick honey. Blood oranges. On the palate, a few tiny flaws, but it's still very pleasant, beaten butter, cooked apple juice, very ripe apricots. A pinch of pepper and cloves. Fruit cake with a dollop of pastry cream. A hint of tobacco on the tongue. Well-crafted finish, long and persistent, but not explosive, with sultanas, morello cherries, but also some cereals. A touch of vanilla.

 

In Short, 

We're very close to an exceptional Imperial, but it lacks a little something on the palate. Some of the people I tasted it with found faults with the nose, but I did not. Others found no fault with it. In any case, it's a fine product, the Sherry is fairly discreet and gives way to the distillate, bringing out the fruits, the cinnamon and the sweetness. Very nice. It's still available, but the price hurts anyway.

Score : 90 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           The Hoax - Swallow my Pride

Imperial 1995 Silver Seal Collection New Vibrations 27 yo

 

 

 

50,4°

Distillery : Imperial - Speyside

Sherry Cask 

Independent Bottling 

By Silver Seal 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2023

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated 

 

 

 

Silver Seal is a legendary Italian trading company run by the no less legendary Massimo Righi, who also owns the Whisky Antique shop in Modena. Its bottlings are as rare as they are sought-after, and here we have a 27-year-old Imperial, aged in a single Sherry cask, which produced only 160 bottles. These are sold exclusively by La Maison du Whisky as part of the New Vibrations collection.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

We're talking about a well-balanced, full-bodied Sherry, with chocolate, figs, liquorice, macerated red fruits, orange jam and chestnut cream. Buttered bread and a nutty butter flavour, one of the distillery's hallmarks. Velvety, woody palate, chocolate mousse, coffee grounds, bark, nutmeg, the spices are rich and intense. Nougat and soft toffee, the finish is long, beautiful, wood resin and cola, barley sugar, various cereals, holly leaves and eucalyptus. A mint note.

 

In Short, 

It's a big slap in the face. The Sherry is intense, but not too sweet, and it leaves plenty of room for the distillate, which blends magnificently with the influence of the wood. What can I say except that it's a huge success? I shed a tear when I read the price. To be reserved for unconditional fans and smugglers of all kinds.

Score : 91

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Gaye Su Akyol - Vurgunum Ama Acelesi Yok

Imperial 1989 Exceptional Casks 30 yo

 

 

 

47,9°

Distillery : Imperial - Speyside

Bourbon Cask 

Independent Bottling  

By Berry Bros. & Rudd

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2020

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured

Almost Unpeated

 

 

 

In 1989, the Imperial distillery had just resumed production, in a minimalist way, after 4 years of silence, as it had just been bought by Allied Distillers. Unfortunately, what seemed like a revival did not last long, and the distillery closed for good in 1998. This tiny Bourbon cask, which produced only 178 bottles, stayed for thirty years waiting to be tasted. I have not been able to confirm that it was bottled cask strength, but it is very likely.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It :  

Salt and tide, beach sand, iodine, sea breeze. A touch of limestone, lime, a few citrus fruits. Very light, airy peat, cementing the whole. Candle wax, candied vanilla, liquid honey. On the palate, it's a bit more classic, more Speyside, but it remains costal, light cereals, fruits that don't stand out much, balanced, wheat, puffed rice, white plums and raisins, a pinch of pepper, a mint leaf. Long, perfectly mastered finish, earthy cereals, chalk, a final pinch of salt.

In Short, 

As the name suggests, this is truly an exceptional cask. Note the slight veil of smoke, the candle wax and the salt. Otherwise, of course, honey, candied fruits, exotic and lime. Obviously, the price makes you think twice, but don't forget it's thirty years old.

Score : 89

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           John O'Leary - Drinking Again

Imperial 1983 The Vintage Malt Whisky Co. Ltd

 

 

 

43°

Distillery : Imperial - Speyside

Independent Bottling

By The Vintage Malt Whisky Co. Ltd

Limited Edition

Single Malt

Bottled in 1995

Almost Unpeated

 

 

 

This Imperial, bottled by The Vintage Malt Whisky Co. Ltd, is a piece of history. At the time, the distillery was still in operation, and The Vintage Malt was a very young trading company, founded three years earlier by Brian Cook. There was nothing exceptional about this expression; it had to be sold at a low price and opened in the evening. Now that it has come down to us through the decades, it is a reminder of a bygone era, when whisky was something very different. Cold-filtered, probably, but prepared in a much more traditional way. The ageing is not specified, but a blending of Bourbon Casks is very likely. 

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

Yellow fruits and vanilla, mirabelles and plums, banana, it's quite generous on that side. But it's also slightly costal, iodine, buttered bread, sea spray and tide. Behind, I could smell candle wax, paraffin. All well-balanced, without being fantastic. There's also the patina of old whiskies, like old varnish and a touch of naphthalene. A shade of peat, but very discreet. On the palate, fairly smooth, but the fruits stand out, it's a bit more than pleasant, between the orange and the pear. Not very pronounced spices. Fairly long, decent finish, where the tide comes through, a pinch of salt, beach sand, silt.

 

In Short, 

I was prepared to bet it was a Clynelish, when I was told it was indeed an Imperial. Needless to say, I really enjoyed it, as it has everything I love about Clynelish, the candle wax, the costal character. It also has the taste of a whisky from another time, and that has its charm. Of course, it's very hard to get your hands on it, and it certainly costs ten times as much as the release price. But frankly, for any enlightened whisky enthusiast, it's worth the effort. You really feel like you're travelling back in time when you drink a sip of it.

Score : 88

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Dean Martin - For The Good Times

Imperial 1995 The Single Malts of Scotland 24 yo c. 7898

 

 

 

51,5°

Distillery : Imperial - Speyside 

Refill Bourbon Barrel

Independent Bottling 

By Elixir Distillers 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2020

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured 

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

Among the nearly fifty bottlings from Imperial made by Elixir Distillers, released for the most part within The Single Malts of Scotland range, this one is among the best rated. Distilled on November 13, 1995, and bottled on February 17, 2020, it therefore spent 24 years, 3 months and 4 days in a single Refill Bourbon barrel, in order to leave full rein to the distillate. It is not mentioned whether the bottling was carried out at cask strength, which is by no means an obligation at The Single Malts of Scotland, on their site they state that the alcohol level is at "optimum strength" , but not "cask strength". That said, more than 50° for a 24 year old, and only 98 bottles on sale, they mustn't have added a lot of water, if at all.

 

Lets Taste It : 

Wood wax, ointment, lovely salinity. Tiger balm, light woodiness, I begin to feel the patina of old whiskies. Butter laces, semi-salted butter as it should be. Malted cereals. The sweetness is not so pronounced, it's drastic, almost austere, I can smell the iodine, the tide, an airy depth. The nose is very stable, but drifts a little towards almond paste and brown sugar. On the palate, the salinity comes through, with white fruits, a lovely delicacy, icing sugar, chantilly cream and ripe plums, pastry cream. Cinnamon and cardamom. Very long, well managed finish, powdered chocolate, cola, earth, an ounce of charcoal, vergeoise. Hints of iodine and limestone return.

 

In Short, 

It is truly superb. An old whisky with character, offering us a true identity, the full measure of this late and somewhat mysterious distillery. A very fine bottling, completely sold out today, and which would require a great deal of effort and self-sacrifice to obtain. Better not to think about it any more.

Score : 90

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Conil - After The Hole

Imperial 1998 The Single Malts of Scotland 21 yo

 

 

 

46,4°

Distillery : Imperial - Speyside

Bourbon Barrel

Independent Bottling 

By Elixir Distillers 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask 

Bottled in 2020

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and it is Elixir Distillers that has played a major part in bringing to public attention the qualities of this closed distillery, which seemed on the road to oblivion. Closed in 1998, then destroyed in 2015, this distillery, which had produced just one single malt in its lifetime, had everything it needed to be erased from history. But that was without counting on the vigilance of the Singh brothers, who bought a large number of casks and released them in dribs and drabs once they had been bottled. This one, a Bourbon cask, let the precious liquid mature for 21 years, 5 months and 24 days, before releasing it in a very small number of 104 bottles, which were sold only on the French market, as part of La Maison du Whisky's Conquest range. I assume that it sold out quickly.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

First of all comes the fruit, orange marmalade with bits in it, sparkling white plums and ripe bananas. Malt in shambles, long-waxed wood, a salty, crystalline touch, and brown butter, which you spread on a slice of toast just out of the toaster. Brioche, croissant, it's very sweet and creamy, vanilla and more melted butter, it gradually turns into almond paste. On the palate, the wood comes through, mingling with everything I've already mentioned: soft bread, buttered toast, a touch of salt. A few spices, cinnamon and a pinch of cumin. It's warm and friendly, with a hint of chocolate. Rather long, masterful finish, on cola and Van Houten chocolate powder, ground coffee, earthy. Herbaceous touches at the end.

 

In Short, 

This is my first Imperial, and I'm totally impressed. It's a distillery with a real identity, something very special in Speyside. Wax, buttered bread and a touch of salt. It's reminiscent of Glen Elgin, but also of Clynelish in a much softer way. It's not quite typical of Speyside (Linkwood or Glenburgie are much more typical to me), but it has the sweetness, creaminess and fragility. This is a very fine distillery, and I'm lucky enough to discover it through a very fine bottling. The release price was a little severe but fair, but today it's completely sold out, and it's starting to get hot on the secondary market, it's now too expensive.

Score : 89 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :   

                                           Lloyd Cole & The Commotions - Forest Fire