Review by: The Muskox

Here’s another one I tried at a recent tasting. Imperial is probably my favourite Speysider, so naturally, of all the distilleries that needed to shut down during the 90s, it had to be that one.

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Distillery: Imperial.

Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail.

Region: Speyside.

ABV: 43%, cask strength.

Age: 16 years old. Distilled in 1991. Bottled in 2008.

Color: Light gold. No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

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Nose: Sweet and gentle, fruity and floral. Syrupy notes of stewed pears, tinned peaches, and elderflower. Exotic fruit flavours of mango, starfruit, lychee, muscat grapes, and citrus peels. Lots of lavender and violets, getting towards soap but not in a way that really bugs me. Some beeswax and a cedar-y spice character. After resting a little while longer, some mild sherry-cask influence starts to emerge.

Palate: Light texture. Arrives with tangerine, nectarine, beeswax, and white chocolate. Develops to fragrant oak, milk chocolate, some more beeswax, and something slightly dunnage-y. Some pineapple, pear, and red apples. A little black pepper.

Finish: Medium-short. A hint of soap again. Nougat, honey, sweet citrus, and mango.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Worker bee staycation”

Notes: Gentle, floral, fruity, easy to drink, beautiful. It certainly isn’t the most complex example of Imperial, but the essential tropical + floral + beeswax flavours are here. On the palate, the texture is light but the flavour is unexpectedly robust. I can’t really explain the soapy notes here, or why they’re not bothering me. Maybe I’m immune to soap like my friend u/paulusgaming. My score for this was initially going to be 80, but it crawled up as I sipped all the way to here.

Final Score: 84.

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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.