Imperial 33 Year Old 1989 (cask 2069) Limited - 70cl 51.3%

Imperial Distillery was founded by Thomas Mackenzie in 1897, the year of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, and, as the name suggests, the construction was a grand scale. The maltings even sported a gigantic cast iron crown at its apex. The distillery closed down in 1998, with the buildings ultimately demolished in 2013 but a few warehouses remain. Now standing on the site of Dalmunach, the new distillery is owned by Pernod Ricard (Chivas Brothers). Imperial Distillery represents a piece of Speyside’s turbulent whisky history—ephemeral, occasionally brilliant, but always overshadowed by production hiccups and blending demands.