North of Scotland 50 Years Old

This is the inaugural official release of North of Scotland, drawn from the silent Lowland grain distillery George Christie ran at Cambus near Alloa from 1958 until its closure in 1980. Bottled in 2017 in partnership with Elixir Distillers as a 50 year old, it was the first time the distillery name appeared on an official label, with an outturn of 1500 bottles.

North of Scotland was distilled on patent stills, but Christie made a point of taking a wider congener cut than most grain producers, leaving more flavour compounds in the spirit so it would gain character rather than thin out across long maturation. Fifty years in ex-Bourbon American oak is at the far edge of what grain whisky can take, the spirit slowly oxidising and concentrating as roughly two percent of the cask is lost each year to the angel's share.

Bottled at 40.4%, the strength has eased to near the legal floor through five decades of evaporation. Lignin in the oak has broken down into vanillin for a deep vanilla sweetness, oak lactones lend coconut and a soft creaminess, and slow oxidation builds beeswax and polished old oak with honey and toasted notes over the top. The tannins are firm but stay well short of bitterness, leaving a gentle, ethereal grain of real age.