This week of reviews of old single grain whiskies got off to a good start on Monday with a North of Scotland 43, 1971 bottled by Gordon & Company. Let’s see if the streak continues with this Invergordon, also 43 years old but distilled a couple of years later. The bottler is the Whisky Agency, once one of the biggest names in independent bottling in Europe. Now that I’ve stopped buying whisky from Europe, I’m no longer sure which bottlers are still active or as active as they used to be. Is the Whisky Agency still a big name? This is not my first review of an old Invergordon, by the way. I’ve also reviewed another 1973, a 39 yo bottled by Malts of Scotland, another German bottler that was a big name back in the day. No idea if they’re still as active either. I do know I didn’t care very much for that 39 yo. Let’s see if this 43 yo is any better.

Invergordon 43, 1973 (50.3%; The Whisky Agency; bourbon barrel; from a bottle split)

Nose: Creme brulee with quite a bit of caramelized sugar; burnt toast; very milky cocoa. No real change here with time. And no real change here with water either.

Palate: Comes in with more of the oak. Quite sweet here too but with less vanilla and more simple syrup. A pretty big bite at 50.3%; decent texture. Spicier on the second sip and the bitter notes pop out earlier. A bit of citrus (lemon peel) as it sits but the bitter notes expand and dominate: more oak extract now. Okay, let’s see if water does anything for it. Well, it pushes the bitter notes back but doesn’t really bring out anything new.

Finish: Long. Oak and a bitterness that’s probably from both the oak and the grain; a glassy/metallic note at the end. Hmm some late-developing fruit with water (peach)

Comments: I liked the nose but the palate was dominated first by an uninteresting sweetness and then by bitter notes that didn’t do anything for me.

Rating: 82 points. (Pulled up by water.)