North British Distillery 35 Year Old Single Grain
Your one chance to grab a 35YO Scotch for just $195. Distilled in the 1980s and coming to the Club in April. An absolute must-have.
United KingdomColour Dark gold
Nose A sweet bouquet of pineapple lollies, lemon meringue, peaches in syrup and caramel popcorn with a touch of light oak and white chocolate wafer
Palate Melts in your mouth like salted butter
Food Match Vanilla bean ice cream
Overview
When did you last taste a whisky over thirty years old? With each mouth-watering, high age statement Scotch bottle worth $1,000s that comes to the Club, we receive at least one request from a Whisky Clubber for one they can crack open with mates on a Friday night.
We’ve finally found one for you. For only $195, check out this this ripper from the 1980s, distilled in the heart of Edinburgh by North British Distillery. If this Scotch were a person, it’d have a senior’s card.
After thirty-five years of maturation in refill Sherry and American oak casks, this single grain Scotch was bottled with no added colour at 46.9% ABV. Beautifully creamy with natural oiliness from the grain kept intact using non-chill filtration, this whisky is everything you would’ve hoped for in a mature age statement: full-flavoured with scrumptious swirls of lemon meringue and caramel popcorn with a burst of pineapple lollies and white chocolate wafer.
North British are a traditional grain distillery established in 1885, and their practices are as old as time – in fact, it’s the only distillery to continue using maize after all other Scottish distilleries had made the switch to wheat.
It’s time to uncover what high age statements are all about. Don’t miss this rare chance to grab a 35-year-old for an unbeatable price, only available to Club Members this April 4-6 as an Add In.
Not yet a Club Member? Why not? We’re Australia’s biggest whisky community and it’s free to join! Just pay for the whiskies you want, with no hidden or ongoing fees.
THE SPECS
Price: $195.00
Age: 35 Years Old
ABV: 46.9%
Maturation: Two refill Sherry butts and three American oak hogsheads
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North British Distillery's History
First things first: despite the name, it’s Scottish, and always has been.
Founded in Edinburgh in 1885 by a consortium of independent blenders, North British was established as an alternative to the mighty Distillers Company Ltd (DCL). Depending on where you stood, DCL was either a well-meaning group of like-minded businesspeople dedicated to the quality and consistency of grain whisky supply, or a shameless cartel of monopolists with a stranglehold on the industry.
North British’s founders took the latter view, moving straight into full-scale industrial production and distribution: the distillery sits next to a railway line near the Union Canal, with the nearby port of Leith enabling easy delivery of grain (they chose to use maize, and still do) from overseas. A single Coffey still kicked off production in 1887, producing 3.6 million litres in the year, and was soon pumping out almost three times that.
World War I, Prohibition, the Great Depression and World War II played havoc with the place (it was used as an ammunition factory in WWI and for cereal storage in WWII), but in spite of wild fluctuations in production it continued on, and by the mid-fifties, things were on the up-and-up, with the distillery expanding and production eventually peaking at 36.4 million litres in 1979 (thanks to some big upgrades).
The company celebrated its centenary in 1985 and broke its production record in 1990 (41.7 million litres), even as the nearby Caledonian – Edinburgh’s only other grain distillery – shuttered in 1988. But economic hardship raised its ugly head again not too soon after, and the distillery itself suffered damage when the No. 4 still exploded in 1992 (luckily nobody was hurt).
In 1993, the company saw its first change of ownership in 108 years, as shareholders Robertson & Baxter joined with International Distillers & Vintners (IDV) to create Lothian Distillers and buy out their fellow shareholders. Plans for an ambitious expansion were soon put in place, and in 1998 the distillery passed a milestone: 1.5 billion litres of spirit produced. An ex-Bourbon cask was filled to mark the occasion, taking pride of place in the still-standing No.1 Warehouse.
Today, North British is co-owned by Diageo and Edrington Group, with the distillery providing liquid for blended whiskies like Famous Grouse and Johnnie Walker. The distillery can produce over 70 million litres a year, and hold 130 million litres on site (the majority of maturation happens off site, at Muirhall in West Lothian).
It remains one of only six dedicated grain distilleries in Scotland – it’s the only one using maize – and still does what it was founded for over 140 years ago: making a stupendous amount of cracking grain whisky.
Distillery Facts
Region: Lowland
Origin: North British Distillery 9 Wheatfield Road Edinburgh EH11 2PX United Kingdom
Founded: 1885
Water Source: Pentland water
Stills: 3 (Coffey stills)
Capacity: 73,000,000 litres of alcohol per year
Ready to enjoy a world-class whisky collection?
Your free Club Membership gives access to exclusive single malt from Scotland, Australia and the world’s best distilleries. Enjoy the unrivalled buying power of Australia's biggest whisky club.