Ah a grain whisky – where’s Phil Storry when you need him? This time around we’ve got a single hogshead of three decade old Cameronbridge hailing from 1992. An outturn of 276 bottles – but sold pretty quickly given the keen price vs. age. I can still see a single bottle over at the Whisky Shop Dufftown for £88.95 if you’re quick.
In to the final week of the Boutique-y Whisky Company Advent calendar (boo!) and door number 17 reveals some middle-aged single grain whisky in the form of a 24 year old Cameronbridge. Adorned with a sketch of competitive Tiddlywinks player Dr Patrick Barrie who Boutique-y sponsored at the 2017 National Tiddlywinks singles competition, it’s bottled at 50.7% ABV.
That Boutique-y Whisky Company have long championed grain whiskies. Rather than scything them off into a second class citizen sub brand, grain whiskies sit with exactly the same livery as their malts – 50cl, cartoony and generally quite fun. On the one hand this feels like the correct approach – whilst some would argue that grain whiskies *are* second class citizens in the whisky world, you’re only going to raise their profile and understanding by giving them an equal share of the limelight. But, on the other, it becomes very easy to fall into the trap of pricing grain whiskies based on the preponderance of higher prices for larger age statements.