Convalmore was closed by Diageo in 1985 and sold to Wm Grants in 1990, who removed the distilling equipment and currently use the buildings for storage only. We’ve been lucky to have a few very good special releases in the past few years, but other than that this lost distillery almost never crosses your path.
This Convalmore 1975 was bottled by Gordon & MacPhail a couple of years ago.
Convalmore 1975 (46%, Gordon & MacPhail Rare Old 2015, refill sherry hogsheads, ref. #R0/15/06, 299 btl.)
Convalmore 1975 (46%, Gordon & MacPhail Rare Old 2015, refill sherry hogsheads, ref. #R0/15/06, 299 btl.)Nose: plenty of beehive and waxy notes, always great in old Speyside whisky. Wax candles, graphite, polished floors. Honeyed notes and pollen. Oranges, mirabelles and ripe bananas. Soft hints of leaves and library dust.
Mouth: oily texture, great fruitiness to start with (apples, mirabelles, whitecurrant and juicy pear). Hints of sunflower oil. Soft resinous notes and citrus peel towards the end. Quite a personality, even though it isn’t very powerful.
Finish: fairly long, still on waxy citrus, some hoppy notes and gentle oak spices.
Elegant, with lots of complexities. Surprisingly fresh fruity aromas as well as funny, hoppy notes from the oak. Convalmore is quite unique. Expensive (check The Whisky Exchange for instance), but certainly less than the special releases.
Score: 90/100