Master of Malt North British 20-Year
The opportunity to taste a straight, grain scotch whisky – with no malt whisky included – is very rare. You almost never see such a whisky bottled on its own, and if you do it’s going to be an unusual, and limited, bottling from an independent bottler. Since I joined the Society several years ago, I’ve seen a couple of bottlings come and go. But outside of that, during the number of years that I’ve had an avid interest in scotch, I’ve run across only a very small handful.
The reality is that, of the many millions of gallons of scotch grain whisky that are produced each year, nearly all of them go into blended whiskies. And so, in the end, while grain whisky is drunk in phenomenal proportions by whisky drinkers every year, most of us know next-to-nothing about the grain whisky distilleries themselves. While malt whisky distilleries each have their own unique brands and stories, grain whisky distilleries quietly and anonymously (to most whisky drinkers) do what they do best, producing oceans of relatively neutral grain whisky to fill the needs of whisky blenders.
But, in reality, many of these grain whisky distilleries have interesting and compelling histories of their own. And, as it turns out, their whisky can be pretty interesting in its own right.
North British Distillery is a good example. It was founded in 1885 by Andrew Usher who had begun experimenting with the blending of whisky in the 1840′s, and in the 1850′s had released arguably the first blended whisky, Usher’s Old Vatted Glenlivet. By the 1880′s, Andrew Usher & Co. were competing with the Distiller’s Company, and so in order to secure a consistent supply of their own grain whisky, North British Distillery was founded in Edinburg. After two years of construction and outfitting with the latest equipment, the distillery began operations in 1887, and quickly ramped up production, distilling 3.6 million gallons of whisky a year beginning in 1888.
Prohibition hit the distillery hard, with production falling to as little as 1.2 million gallons in 1932, and it wasn’t until 1955 that production reached the 1914 level of 2.5 million gallons. Since then, the distillery has been stable and production has steadily increased to the stunning figure of 16 million gallons per year today. And with the closing of Caledonia Distillery in 1988, North British remains the only grain whisky distillery still operating in Scotland’s capital city today.
Today, North British is one of just 7 operating grain whisky distilleries:
- Cameronbridge
- Girvan
- Invergordon
- Loch Lomond
- Port Dundas
- Strathclyde
Its grain whisky features prominently in several brands, including the Famous Grouse, Johnnie Walker, J&B, and Cutty Sark. And, as with this one, the occasional bottling of straight North British whisky from an independent bottler. In this case, the bottler is Master of Malt, a retailer and independent bottler located in the UK.
Tasting Notes
This is a single-cask, cask-strength whisky that was distilled on January 22nd, 1991 and aged in a first-fill bourbon cask until being bottled on the 14th of October, 2011. It was bottled at 54.1%.
The whisky’s color is a pale, green-tinted gold. The nose has notes of coconut, lemon, and vanilla. Adding some water brings out notes of mint and lime. The palate has an oily, cocoa butter texture, with rich flavors of coconut custard, creme brûlée, and white chocolate, underscored by a slight, citrus astringency. Alongside those flavors, the overwhelming impression is of a very smooth and gently powerful whisky. The relatively long finish brings the same spectrum of soft, sweet flavors.
All in all, the flavors are very reminiscent of bourbon and American oak, especially with those vanilla, coconut, and cocoa butter elements.
I’ve never had a straight grain whisky before, and certainly never a single cask, cask strength one. But I have to say, this is pretty interesting, and pretty good. Very dessert-like; creme brûlée with a dollop of coconut whipped cream on top. Enjoyable, with all that sweetness minus the cloyingness that a bourbon can have. I would be very happy to have a bottle of this in my whisky cabinet.
Note: This sample was graciously supplied to me by Drinks By The Dram.
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