Imperial 33 Year Old 1989

Independent bottler Limited Whisky sources single casks of exceptional character for its Exceptional Cask Collection, seeking out rare and often silent distilleries to bring their remaining stocks to collectors before they are gone for good.

From the silent Imperial distillery, this 33 Year Old single malt is an extraordinarily rare snapshot of a lost Speyside producer. Distilled on 5th December 1989 and matured in cask #2069, a single bourbon barrel, it produced an exceptionally small outturn of just 107 individually numbered bottles. The cask was filled soon after then-owner Allied Distillers had briefly brought the distillery back into production; that revival proved short-lived, and Imperial closed for the final time in 1998, with its buildings demolished in 2013.

Bottled at its natural cask strength of 51.3%, uncoloured and non-chill filtered, this release showcases beautifully mature Speyside fruit, honeyed richness and warming spice: apricot, raisin, almond and lemon zest with subtle ginger spice on the nose, developing into red grape, plum and red apple with warming ginger and cinnamon on the palate, and a long, sweet and spicy finish of toffee, butterscotch, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Now long demolished, Imperial cannot produce another drop, and each remaining cask grows more valuable with every year. For collectors of silent distilleries, this is the type of release that disappears almost as quickly as it arrives.

Region: Speyside  |  Style: Single Malt  |  ABV: 51.3%  |  Size: 700ml  |  Cask: Single Bourbon Barrel (#2069)