Nice to see a grain whisky show up in the Whisky Advent Calendar (and at cask strength, to boot!). The Girvan distillery, situated on Scotland's southwest coast is owned by William and Grant Sons. Since 2007, it has also housed a single malt distillery, Ailsa Bay. Patent stills differ from pot stills in a number of ways. I'm not going to go into it here but you can read much more here. On to the tasting.
Behind window #18: Girvan Patent Still Proof Strength, 57.1% alc., £62/$92
C: White tea
N: Leads with the anticipated vanilla notes but there's shortbread and oak immediately following
P: Pleasantly sweet and textured with vanilla ice-cream and Custard Creams, little bit of white pepper coming in behind the sweet
F: Decent length with lingering sweetness, crystalized ginger, and vanilla custard
In conclusion: A solid introduction to grain whisky and well worth sharing with friends looking for a break from the whisky norm.
Sincere thanks to Master of Malt's Drinks by the Dram for the sample.