North of Scotland 44 Years Old 1971 (Gordon & Company)

This 44 year old North of Scotland sits in Gordon and Company's Pearls of Scotland range, a 1971 vintage from the lost Cambus grain distillery in the Lowlands. The plant George Christie converted from Robert Knox's Forth Brewery produced grain whisky until its 1980 closure, and this release is one of 266 bottles from ex-Bourbon American oak.

Distilled on patent stills with the wide cut that gave North of Scotland its reputation for character, the spirit has spent more than four decades developing in oak. This is full oxidative maturity, where the grain's light maize sweetness is wrapped in baked fruit, a waxy weight and the firm structure that only long years in active wood can produce.

Bottled at 43.3%, the strength has settled with age. The lignin has turned to vanillin and vanilla, caramelised hemicellulose gives toffee and fudge, and the oak lactones add coconut with a creamy roundness. Slow oxidation brings old polished oak and a touch of dried fruit, the tannins firm yet smooth, leading to a long and softly sweet finish. Three of the company's Pearls of Scotland 1971 casks survive at different ages, and this forty four year old sits between them in both age and weight.