Review #129 - The Sovereign Invergordon 50 Year (1964)
'Old' Whisky Series: Part 4 of 4
What better way to wrap this series than a ridiculously old whisky? This is the oldest spirit we've tasted, by a decent margin. Aged for 50 years before bottling in 2014, this Invergordon single grain comes from a single cask. It has a distillation vintage of November 1964, and was aged in an ex-bourbon cask, which somehow still yielded 252 bottles after those 50 years... perhaps multiple previous casks were combined and recasked into this one?
Owned by Hunter Laing, The Sovereign brand is used for bottlings of single grain Scotch whiskies, specifically single casks. They are generally bottled at more mature ages, from 25 to 50 years, as grain whisky ages quite well compared to single malts, which becomes more easily over-oaked. Grain whisky is also much cheaper to produce and purchase than single malts, so these very old single grain bottlings can be found at a fraction of the price of malts the same age.
Invergordon is a huge grain distillery in the Highlands of Scotland - its estimated production capacity is 40 million liters of pure alcohol per annum, double the size of the largest single malt distillery in the country. It's actually a relatively new distillery, founded in 1960, and as you'd expect, the vast majority of its production becomes the grain component of large blended whisky brands.
The Sovereign Invergordon 50 Year (1964)
Scotland - Single Grain
Current Locally Available Price: USD 558 (2023)
Age Statement: 50 Years
Strength: 42.5% ABV
Details: Distilled November 1964, bottled November 2014, ex-bourbon cask HL 11047, 252 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; bottle 40% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Rich oak and brown sugar; it's still slightly grainy, and it takes some air time to open up. With time, there's more herbal spice, along with licorice and wood sugars. The oak takes the form of old polished mahogany, and that polish note continues to grow stronger.
Palate: Rich again on the palate, with a medium mouthfeel - the lower bottling strength is being offset by all of the woody oils from so much time in the cask. Very oaky with wood sugars and spice, brown sugar, and then baking spices: nutmeg, maybe clove. A hint of spirit influence, and as it opens up, it becomes sweeter.
Finish: Medium-long; sweet oak and toast, more brown sugar, and soft vanilla. There's a hint of grainy character again, sweetness like simple syrup, and then a mild nutmeg to end.
Final Note: Good whisky, and actually one that's hard for us to judge. This combines two categories we aren't too experienced with: single grains and very old whiskies. The flavors are rich but a little simple - past the oaky baking spices and grain, there isn't really another dimension like fruit, savory, or mineral. Still, a very enjoyable experience, and one we're glad we had a chance to try. As you might expect, though - the price makes a bottle purchase pretty difficult to justify, unless you're in the habit of buying a lot of old whisky already.
Our Average Rating: 7.0 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 3.40
