My second week of reviews of older single grain whiskies got off to a decent start with the Cameronbridge 27, 1990 bottled by Jack Wieber for their 20th anniversary. Here now is another sherried single grain bottled for another German indie, Alambic Classique. Where the Cameronbridge was a sherry finish, this 30 yo Cambus was entirely matured in a sherry cask (or so I think anyway). The Cameronbridge was let down a bit by sherry separation; in theory at least that shouldn’t happen here. Let’s see if that’s the case.

Cambus 30, 1989 (61.1%; Alambic Classique; sherry cask 19094; from a bottle split)

Nose: Bright orange and polished oak on the first sniff; some brandied raisins on the second. The oak expands a little as it sits and then there are hints of sweeter, muskier fruit (roasted pineapple?) and some cereals. Bitter caramel here too with time. A few drops of water push the oak and caramel back and bring out some apricot and more orange and also some toffee.

Palate: Comes in as indicated by the nose with some sweet caramel added and thankfully there’s no sherry separation here. Surprisingly approachable at full strength with decent texture. The musky fruit doesn’t come through here. The caramel gets more bitter as it sits. With more time there’s a definite dark rum crossover. Water emphasizes the fruit and pushes back the bitter complex here too with water.

Finish: Medium. Nothing new here: the caramel and the oak are the dominant notes, with the oak getting slightly tannic as it goes and the caramel gets more bitter/burnt. As on the nose and palate with water.

Comments: As with the Cameronbridge, this is hard to tell apart from a sherried malt whisky of similar or even younger age. Which goes to show how overpowering active sherry casks can be. Anyway, this is very good sherried whisky even if rather anonymous. I preferred it with water.

Rating: 87 points.