Review by: zSolaris
Scotch Whisky Review #347: Single Malts of Scotland Imperial 30 Year (1989)
Distillery: Imperial.
Bottler: Elixir Distillers.
Region: Speyside.
Age: 30 Year. Distilled on November 1, 1989. Bottled on November 1, 2019.
ABV: 43.3%.
Cask Type: Bourbon
Cask Number: 362
Price: Sample courtesy of /u/herr_maltenberg.
Color: 0.4, Jonquil/Ripe Corn.
This is the 12th installment of this years’ Christmas Countdown. You can see the 2020 edition here and 2019 edition here.
Nose: Quite simple. Tons of malt barley and a mixed assortment of fruits.
Palate: It drinks a lot hotter than then advertised 43.3%, at full strength I couldn’t taste a thing. With a few drops of water, it does calm down nicely. It’s super fruity with tons and tons of orchard fruits. A variety of apples and pears come through. Notes of hay and grass also join in along with a nice basic note of malt barley.
Finish: Medium in length. The malt barley notes from the palate turn into more of malt biscuits. The mixed fruit assortment continues on here.
Conclusion: I’ve not had much Imperial but from what I’ve read and heard, it’s distillate is supposed to be quite fruity. It certainly rings true here with a mixed fruit assortment coming through from start to finish. Orchard fruits are among my favorite notes in whisky so I was quite happy to see them appear here. The bits of added hay and grass along with those fruitier notes really remind me of Linkwood and I probably would’ve guessed that had I had this blind. I didn’t get a ton of complexity out of this well aged dram, unfortunately. It drank like a much younger and much hotter than it probably should have. Not bad, quite delightful in fact, just more than a touch away from greatness in my opinion.
Final Score: 82.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 
