A delicate, Blended Grain Scotch Whisky by Don Sutcliffe & Willie Phillips. The Carsebridge Distillery closed in 1983 & was completely demolished by 1992. How Don & Willie got their hands on a cask of 30-year-old Carsebridge grain Whisky we’ll never know. But they did, & this signature grain spirit forms the flavorful center-point to The Exceptional Grain. Blended with a cask from the North British Distillery, one from Strathclyde, & another one from Loch Lomond, these lovely spirits are married & finished in first-fill Sherry casks without a hint of artificial coloring. There will only be 1500 bottles of The Exceptional Grain in this latest batch. It has a birth with notes of berries, cinnamon & zest; while life adds notes of vanilla cream truffles, sweet grain, light rancio & a hint of barrel char; that led to a long & delicate death with notes of sweet milk chocolate. January / May / June 2018 / August 2022
Sutcliffe & Son The Exceptional Grain
About this bottle
The Exceptional is a blended grain whisky created from three different barrels from three different distilleries. One barrel was distilled in 2000 at the North British Distillery, one is from the Loch Lomand distillery, and one is a 30 year old whisky from the Carsebridge distillery. The latter distillery shut its doors in 1983. These whiskies were blended by Willie Phillips formerly with The Macallan and finished in first-fill sherry casks. Limited availability as only 1500 bottles were produced.
How it tastes
Measured across 14 flavor axes. Tap a note to find other bottles that lead with it.
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 9 parsed reviews.
Very interesting scotch, light and sweet, but more like a bourbon than a Speyside. Nose - honey, vanilla and caramel, with some musty notes that are typical in scotch Taste - light sweet honey, some dark fruit and a bit of orange zest Finish - silky and sweet, fades fairly quickly
If you like sweet vanilla then this is your whisky. I grabbed it for $25 and that was an absolute steal. I wouldn’t pay the normal $100 price tag but it is very nice. If you blinded it and said it was Compass Box Hedonism I would not doubt it a bit.
Spicy nose reminds me a bit of Dalmore, but taste is like a honey infused highland Park 12. Not bad, but not exceptional
Get the vanilla, berries are there but muted. Lots of vapors. Mildly sweet.
This tastes autumnal— nutty with notes of grain, apple and vanilla.
3 more reviews were collected for this bottle. The longest ones are shown first.
Tastes like this
Closest flavor profiles across the whole catalog.
