Invergordon (single grain) distillery is located in Invergordon and as I have already suggested, it is a single grain as opposed to single malt distillery.

Invergordon was founded in 1961 by Invergordon Distillers Ltd who expanded the distillery two years later in 1963 by installing a second pair of Coffey stills.

1978 Saw further expansion with the installation of a new and larger Coffey still with extra columns.

In 1988 Invergordon was subject to a management buyout and then in 1990 Invergordon was launched as a single grain bottled whisky, rather than just being used as a base for blended whisky.

Whyte & Mackay took over Invergordon in 1993 and are now part of Vijay Mallya's Empire.

My thanks to Teun van Wel for permission to copy & use the distillery photos

General whisky characteristics: Aromatic, light, perfumed, floral

Berry Brothers, Invergordon,  Single Grain, 1971-2009, 48% ABV

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Munich Whisky Festival 2010

Colour: Light, sparkling yellow gold

Nose: Extremely aromatic and floral with some perfume, newly sawn wood and just a touch of lavendar. With time, the nose opens even more.

Palate: Initially very creamy and smooth, then spreading right across the palate with a floral explosion which continues on and on and on, then fades suddenly. Whilst this floral explosion encompasses the palate, a rather unique freshness cuts straight through the centre of the palate.

Finish: Long and floral before ending suddenly.

Overall Impression: Marvellous! I love this single grain from Invergordon and that floral explosion with the unique freshness is exactly that; unique.

Bladnoch Forum bottling, Invergordon,  Single Grain, 1971, 35y, 49.5% ABV

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Nose: The nose of an olde-worlde sweet shop. Nothing in packaging, just different sweet aromas all muxed-ip together.

Palate: Not quite so creamy as the other grains and certainly not as sweet as my summary of the nose suggests. It is almost a mixture of nuts and wine, with just a little hint of redcurrant and maybe even banana.

Overall Impression: This is quite different again, but I think I like it and want to return to it.

SMWS, Invergordon,  Single Grain, G5.3, 18y, 65.6% ABV

Distilled May 1993, one of 246 bottles

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

"Dram-atics" live review

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Rich amber

Nose: Fruity furniture polish, maybe even freshly polished brass. This settles very quickly to bring the fruitiness to the fore with orange (zest) infused butterscotch. Is that a suggestion of rum too?

Palate: Everything I identified on the nose just exploded across the palate, marvellous, just marvellous, especially that orange infused butterscotch.

With 4 Drops of water: It just gets better and better.

Finish: Very long with creamy butterscotch

Overall Impression: Fantastic, nay a "Great" as this is just so good.

Riverstown, Invergordon,  Single Grain, 30y, 64.3% ABV

Distilled Oct. 1984, bottled August 2015

Cask Ref. 2015-44, bottle 270 of 276

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Deep shiny oak

Nose: My first impression here is of the oakiness of the cask, but wait, what's that in the background? Could it be some mintiness? Spearmint even? But the over-riding aroma is of that oakiness which isn't a bad thing.

Palate: This is mouth-coating. It's rich with woodiness almost to the point of being chewy. There's also some freshness on the palate but not the mintiness of the nose.

With 3 Drops of water: Much more intense now and the palate offers a suggestion of smoky toffee.

Finish: Medium length

Overall Impression: I love the woody freshness.

Whisky Doris, Invergordon,  Single Grain, 43y, 49% ABV

Distilled Dec. 1972, bottled Sept. 2016

Bourbon Barrel No.31, bottle 154 of 241

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Oak with a hint of copper

Nose: Lots of typical grain qualities here with butterscotch and apricot, but wait a minute, there's also something light and floral in the background which is reminiscent of hyacinth.

Palate: Creamy butterscotch with just a hint of banana. It's just very woody and fruity, luvverlee.

Finish: Very long and repeating ... nice.

Overall Impression: A slightly difficult palate to determine exactly but I still love it. A 'Great', just.

Gentle Noses, Invergordon,  Single Grain, 1972, 43y, 49.4% ABV

Labelled as "Locomotive Breath"

Original cost of this bottle; Unknown

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Oak with a hint of copper

Nose: This is nicely fruity with suggestions of banana and something exotic, perhaps maracuja. It also has a freshness which is difficult to place as it's also almost floral at the same time.

Palate: Everything from the nose is present on the palate but it's also very dry.

Finish: Medium length and very floral.

Overall Impression: A little different but really enjoyable.

I recently discovered a second sample of this whisky and decided to retry it during a week when I'm concentrating on single grain whisky and my findings were surprisingly different, perhaps even better than the original above.

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Pale oak

Nose: This time I detected no real fruitiness but it was extremely aromatic, almost like a perfumed biscuit, yes lots of biscuit-ness with an element of perfume. After some minutes lots of vanilla (cream) came to the fore.

Palate: Extremely intense with some floral elements, maybe mildly perfumed? Rather than the biscuit suggestion from the nose I now have butterscotch and even mild brandy snap on the palate, but always with that floral / perfumed characteristic.

Finish: Long.

Overall Impression: I acquired this sample back in 2016 at Limburg and it's remained sealed in the small sample bottle since then. I can't believe there's been much oxidisation as the bottle was not only sealed but full and none has evaporated, however my findings this second time around are very different to the orignal revew, in fact even better in my opinion. That intense palate with the butterscotch and brandy snap is just delightful. I'm so pleased to have found this sample having the possibility to retry it.

Invergordon,  Single Grain, 1973-2016, 43y, 51.1% ABV

One of 104 bottles

Selected and bottled for The Formosa Whisky Society

Original cost of this bottle; Unknown

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Oak

Nose: Creamy toffee and mild butterscotch then after a few minutes in the glass I detect a suggestion of Alpine cheese.

Palate: Initially a very smooth and creamy mouth-feel quickly surpassed by an intense blast of peppery butterscotch and something almost herbal in character. There's also a suggestion of something nutty which soon reminds me of ginger nut biscuits, yes, lots of ginger pepperiness.

Finish: Very long with lots of that peppery ginger nut.

Overall Impression: Truly delightful, I love the ginger aspect.

The Grain Man, Invergordon,  28y, 47.7% ABV

Distilled Dec. 1987, bottled March 2016

Bourbon cask No.905752, one of 224 bottles

Original cost of this bottle; Unknown

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Very pale watery yellow

Nose: My initial thoughts are of plain biscuit or wholemeal bread but after a few minutes in the glass I detect a hint of musty cardboard. This may not sound so nice but it's really pleasant.

Palate: The suggestion of biscuit carries through onto the palate and alongside it the taste of creamy toffee. It's also intensely prickly (peppery). Then as it moves into the finish I'm reminded of the flavour of a wonderful Tasmanian Leatherwood Honey.

Finish: Extremely long with lots of that Leatherwood honey.

Overall Impression: Loads of unusual character and I love that honey.