Inchgower 11 Year (SMWS 18.45 "Hola!")

 

Inchgower is another of those little-known distilleries owned by Diageo that gets funneled wholesale into various blends (and specifically Bell's), with the odd off-profile cask sold off to independent bottlers and escaping into the wild to be sampled by curious drammers like myself. This was the 5th and penultimate sample provided at the March 2023 outturn tasting of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS").

Inchgower 13 Year (SMWS 18.38 "The Happy Ponderer")

 

Here is a new one to me - Inchgower, a four-still distillery on the outskirts of Buckie in Moray, Scotland. Dating from 1871, it was owned by Bell's for many years, and is currently owned by Diageo. It remains a major component of Bell's blended whisky, which I always liked just fine. I have never, not once in a decade of drinking primarily single malts, seen or even heard of a bottle of Inchgower, anywhere. According to the cask coding that the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") uses, this is only the 38th cask they've ever obtained from Inchgower - a real rarity!