North of Scotland 40 Years Old 1964 Cask #30295 (Hart Brothers)

One of the oldest vintages in the range, this 1964 vintage was bottled at 40 years old by the long established Scottish independent Hart Brothers for their Finest Collection. The grain comes from the silent grain plant at Cambus, Clackmannanshire, the plant George Christie ran from 1958 until 1980, and is one of 180 bottles from single cask 30295.

1964 was the year the distillery took the North of Scotland name, having begun as Christie's Strathmore malt experiment before switching wholly to grain. Four decades in a single ex-Bourbon barrel brings deep oxidative maturity, the spirit concentrating into dried fruit, leather and a waxy richness as the cask gives up its sweeter compounds.

Bottled at 42.5%, the strength has eased through long maturation. Vanilla arrives as vanillin from the broken down lignin, the oak lactones lend coconut, and caramelised hemicellulose brings toffee. Decades of slow oxidation layer in old polished oak and soft dried fruit, the tannins firm but rounded, closing on a mellow and dignified note from a genuinely scarce vintage. Distilled the very year the distillery adopted the North of Scotland name, it is also among the oldest vintages the plant ever laid down.