Caperdonich 20 Years Old 1996

One of Speyside’s lost distilleries, Caperdonich started life humbly called Glen Grant 2, as it sat opposite the original distillery of the same name. Built at the height of the whisky boom in 1898, it was fashionable to build distilleries alongside one another and to unimaginably refer to them as the number 2 plant. Due to legislation in 1977, such practices were no longer allowed to avoid consumer confusion, prompting the change to Caperdonich. In reality, there wasn’t much opportunity for consumers to become confused about Glen Grant 2, as the distillery closed in 1902 for 63 years. When it reopened, expansion brought about a change in still shape, which changed the character of the liquid; only for this to be replaced in 1985. Throughout its life, Caperdonich was in search of an identity but did leave us with some delightful whiskies. When it was sold to Pernod Ricard in 2001, their plans for the distillery involved selling it the following year to Forsyth’s before it was demolished in 2011.