29 Year Old Whisky

A 1982 vintage Aultmore, bottled from a single cask by independent bottler Adelphi. A 29 year old, bottled at cask strength in 2011.

A long aged single cask Caol Ila from Signatory, released as part of their Cask Strength Collection. Distilled on December 14th 1982 and bottled on October 6th 2012 after 29 years of maturation in a hogshead.

After several years of relative abundance, old Caol Ila is becoming rather thin on the ground these days as canny buyers figure out that, for all the hype around Port Ellen, this distillery frequently matches its quality for a fraction of the price. This 1982 vintage Caol Ila has come out of a plain hogshead at exactly 100 UK proof and is absolutely superb.

At 29 years old, this is by some distance the oldest official bottling of Cragganmore that has ever come to the market. A long-time favourite here at TWE, this is also the top-ranked Cragganmore on Serge Valentin's Whiskyfun.

A casualty of the last whisky bust, Glen Mhor was closed in the 1980s and finally dismantled around a quarter of a century ago in 1986 and demolished in 1988, before the site was converted into a supermarket. With most of the distillery's output in its lifetime going straight into the blenders vats, only a small number of casks have survived and it seems likely that soon Glen Mhor's spirit will have disappeared for good.

Delicious fruity, honeyed malt from Dalwhinnie, the Highland representative of the Classic Malts. This 29 year-old was released in 2003 and has been a huge hit with punters and critics alike.

A rare official bottling from Glenturret, this is a single cask from the now much-revered 1977 vintage, released at full strength way back in October 2006 after 29 years in the wood. Just 246 bottles were yielded from the cask.

An old release of Auchentoshan whisky. This was distilled in 1973 and aged for 29 years in a Sherry Butt. The wonderfully dark colour of this whisky just goes to show how well it's been influenced by the sherry butt.

A distillery bottling of 1968 vintage Glen Garioch, bottled at 29 years old in their old stag livery before their rebranding in the new millenium.

An epic Ardbeg, this is one of Douglas Laing's earlier Platinum series releases from 2004. Some old Ardbegs are sweet and fruity, but here the emphasis is very much on the smoke with the fruit and sweetness in the background. A belter.

An independent bottling of 1966 Caol Ila from Gordon & Macphail released as part of the Centenary celebrations. Distilled in 1966 and matured for 29 years in a sherry cask.

A very special bottle of Macallan, this was distilled in 1965 and bottled in 1994 by Signatory. With an average score of 92 points from the Malt Maniacs (including 93 from Serge Valentin) this is one of the bottlings that helped establish Signatory as one of Scotland's most important independent bottlers.

A single cask bottling of Ardbeg whisky, distilled in 1972 and aged for 29 years. This whisky has undergone a finishing process of a minimum of 6 months in a sheryy cask, before being bottled at Douglas Laing's preferred strength of 50%.

A 1972 whisky from Ardbeg. This has been matured for 29 years including a minimum 6 month finishing period in a sherry cask. Bottled in November 2001 by Douglas Laing for their Old Malt Cask range.

A very rare old 29yo Springbank 1965 bottled by the distillery in the mid-1990s, this is from the distillery's golden age and is likely to be a pretty stunning drop.

An ex-oloroso sherry cask of Ardbeg from 1975, this rare Ardbeg was bottled for the Feis Ile in 2005.