North Port 14 Years Old 1974 (Intertrade)

Bottled by Intertrade, the Italian firm known for issuing old and unusual casks at full strength, this 14 year old is North Port caught young and at enormous power. The 1974 vintage comes from the Brechin distillery in Angus, the Guthrie family's 1820 Highland plant later closed by DCL in 1983, and this early bottling from 1988 ran to just 177 bottles.

At fourteen years the whisky is still in its integration phase, the spirit and Oloroso cask knitting together, the sherry influence fresh and the distillery's own character clearly present. The cask's melanoidins have begun to build a dried fruit depth, but the young age and high strength keep the dry, fruity make front and centre throughout. Italian bottlers like Intertrade were among the first to treat single malts as collectables, which is why early casks like this survive at all.

Bottled at a fierce 66.2%, this really needs water to open. Once reduced, the melanoidins give raisin and a nutty note, while North Port's dry orchard fruit and a faint herbal, juniper lift cut through the sherry. The finish is hot, long and bright, an early Italian bottling of a Highland distillery that would close within just a few years of it being filled.