Scotch Whisky Review #341: Barrel to Bottle Invergordon 29 Year First Refill Tennessee Whiskey Barrel #45981 (1990)

Distillery: Invergordon.

Bottler: Barrel to Bottle.

Region: Highland.

Age: 29 Year. Distilled on May 16th, 1990. Bottled in June, 2019.

ABV: 55.5%. Cask Strength.

Cask Number: 45981.

Cask Type: 1st Refill Tennessee.

Color: 1.2, Chestnut/Oloroso Sherry. Non-Chill Filtered.

This is the 6th installment of this years’ Christmas Countdown. You can see the 2020 edition here and 2019 edition here.

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Nose: Caramel is the main note here. Molasses and brown sugar come and join in along with some overripe pears.

Palate: It has an almost oily character to this. Caramel comes through again along with a berry compote. A bit of marzipan and a hint of melon ice cream come through as well. Blood oranges pop in toward the end.

Finish: Medium in length. A berry liqueur is the main note with some huckleberry come through as well. A bit of spice wraps things up.

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Conclusion: As common as bourbon barrel as, I’ve not come across many whiskies that explicitly state where that barrel has come from. With this being a first refill Tennessee Whiskey barrel (Jack Daniel’s), I was curious to see if it would come off in any noticeable way or not. In all honesty, while there’s plenty of ex-bourbon influence but I wouldn’t be able to tell you if this was any different than any other ex-bourbon cask. There’s a lot of caramel throughout with some fruitier notes which is a nice and tasty combination. Would I buy a bottle? Maybe!

Final Score: 82.

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Scotch Whisky Review #341, Grain Whisky #6, Highland Review #67, Whisky Network Review #491

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.