North Port Brechin 22 Years Old 1974 (Gordon & MacPhail)

Gordon & MacPhail of Elgin bottled this 22 year old in its long running Connoisseurs Choice range, under the original Brechin name. The 1974 vintage was distilled at North Port in Angus, the Highland plant the Guthrie family founded in 1820 and DCL closed in 1983, and this is a classic example of the Elgin firm's role in keeping lost distilleries on the shelf for drinkers and collectors alike.

Maturation was in ex-Bourbon American oak, soft wood that is low in tannin and flatters a light, dry malt. Across twenty two years the whisky reached oxidative maturity, the fresh orchard fruit of the new make deepening while the cask added a vanilla sweetness and a soft, rounded texture before it was finally reduced for bottling.

Bottled at 40%, this is an approachable, fully integrated style. Vanilla comes from the vanillin as the lignin breaks down, the oak lactones add a light coconut note, and a fresh hay and glasshouse greenness lifts the dry orchard fruit that defined North Port. A whisper of sherried sweetness rounds it off, the finish soft and clean, a Connoisseurs Choice record of a vanished Highland name.