Uncharted Whisky, Funkytown, Cameronbridge 20 Year Old

Key Facts About This Single Grain Scotch

Bottler: Uncharted Whisky Company

Founders: Jack Breslin and Dana de Vos

Release: Funkytown

Distillery: Cameronbridge

Region: Lowlands, Scotland

Age: 20 years

Distilled: September 2003

Bottled: September 2023

Cask Type: Single bourbon cask

Cask Ref: UC023

Alcohol by Volume: Cask strength at 62.1%

Outturn: 247 bottles

Bottle Size: 700ml

Bottled: Natural colour and non chill filtered

Cameronbridge 20 Year Old Tasting Notes

Official tasting notes

Nose: Apples and custard, vanilla, canned fruit are first. A touch of caramel, nutmeg and hints of cigar box accompany the namesake funk.

Palate: A thick mouthfeel of rich cereals, Frosties, shortbread, hazelnuts and oak accompany the oh-so-funky mouthfeel.

Finish: Long and mellow. Powdered sugar, lemon drop and shortbread.

About Uncharted's Funkytown

And now for something completely different. This is an Off-The-Grid whisky…

The flavours are wild, exciting, and super funky - and I love a dram that’s got the funk!

This single cask of single grain whisky, distilled in the Kingdom of Fife was first filled to wood in 2003, which wasn’t yesterday. It stayed in that cask every day of its 20 year maturation before being bottled at its natural cask strength of 62.1%. Ooft.

Why Funkytown?

Why did Uncharted call it funkytown? Well, it’s not because the town of Leven where this was distilled is a particularly Funky town, although I’m sure it has its moments. Rather, it's named for the flavour. Often we talk about some single malts being funky, as in holding a flavour and mouthfeel that is hard to describe any other way. This is particularly true of Campbeltown whiskies or others with really long fermentation times. It is very unusual to see a single grain with as interesting a flavour profile as this. It is a really funky whisky.

Where has the funk come from?

The honest answer is, "not sure!"... that’s part of the funky voodoo. However, here is a somewhat speculative and honest information dump, written by Jack and Dana.

Cameronbridge is a powerhouse distillery which produces vast quantities of scotch whisky. As a result, all sorts of different casks are sourced to mature the spirit depending on availability and budgets at the time. However, we can safely say that most of what is filled are Hogsheads. Hogsheads are made up of ex-bourbon barrels (circa 200 litres volume) which have been used for maturing whisky previously. They are sent in bulk to a cooperage where a cooper will break them apart and reform larger casks from the recycled staves. These are called Hogsheads (circa 250 litres). These have lots of benefits; they’re very effective for increasing storage capacity, larger casks are more stable over the years for evaporative losses, and the less active wood won’t overcook the spirit if it’s left to lie a very long time. Best of all, they are cheap.

So what this means is that most Hogsheads make decent enough but pretty un-remarkable whisky in short to medium-term maturation. However, every once in a while, the stars align and you get a cracker. Welcome to Funkytown at 20 years old.

Stewed apples, custard, vanilla, canned lychees, nutmeg and a bowl of Frosties served with an extra dollop of funk. The cask has added bags of flavour here and time has mellowed, matured and evolved the spirit over the generous ageing period. The result is a rare complexity and deliciousness. Bottled at natural cask strength and natural colour.