The Tony Koehl Series is a short series (four bottlings, if I’m not mistaken) by David Stirk, when he still owned The Creative Whisky Company. He doesn’t anymore since last year. I don’t know what happened with it, but when I was at Maltstock last year, people were very surprised by the announcement.

Anyway, Imperial is always an odd whisky, in my book. It’s a single malt but it somehow often is as sweet as a grain whisky, but with more depth and complexity. Also, it’s a closed distillery and in its place Dalmunach distillery has risen. The last one is mostly used for blended whiskies and was opened in 2014. Since the goal is to produce bulk whisky there, it’s unlikely we’re to see a single malt from these stills anytime soon.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Glue? Thinner? Nail polish? Something highly chemical. After a while a scent of grist and dusty grain stores picks up.

Sip:
Some apples and pears, some oak and quite some alcohol heat. It’s slightly hot and dry, with straw and hay, some black pepper too.

Swallow:
Some licorice on the finish. Dry with hard candy, pear drops. Straw, barley, oak and black pepper, to a lesser degree.

The sweet candy notes combined with hints of glue on the nose make for a rather typical Imperial. These notes are not necessarily a bad thing, but not everyone enjoys this style. I quite did, and it’s a bit of a look into the past with this distillery being closed now, and being a rather unique one. Good stuff!

87/100

Imperial 1995-2013, 17yo, Cask 50079, 51.2%, Creative Whisky Company, The Tony Koehl Series. Only available in the secondary market, starting at € 300!