Inverleven 1978 SMWS 25 Year Old 20.20 75cl / US Import

Inverleven was a single malt distillery located within the Dumbarton grain complex. Dumbarton had been built by Canadian giants, Hiram Walker, in 1936 in order to provide whisky for its newly acquired Ballantine's brand. The distillery consisted of two copper pot stills and, later, a lomond still which was actually considered to be a seperate distillery, simply called Lomond. The latter was decommissioned in 1985, with Inverleven following suit in 1991 and the wider Dumbarton complex in 2002. The whole site has now been demolished. Inverleven's legacy lives on however, most prominently in its still set. The Lomond still now produces The Botanist gin at Bruichladdich, and the spirit and wash stills are now in situ at Waterford distillery in Ireland. Its legacy is less prominent in its output, with most of its whisky reserved for blends. Occasional distillery bottlings were produced, but the majority are rare independent releases like this.

This Inverleven was distilled in May 1978 and matured in a single cask for 25 years. It was bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in December 2003, for the American market.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) was founded in 1983 by a group of friends lead by tax accountant Phillip ‘Pip’ Hills as a private members club. The concept behind the society was to source casks from all over Scotland which would then be bottled and made available exclusively to its members. Perhaps the most famous feature of these bottles are the unique codes. Each distillery is represented by a different number and the following digits indicate that particular release. That same year, the SMWS set up its first location in Leith’s Vault buildings in Edinburgh where it still stands today.