Quite a long time ago I was about to participate in a twitter tasting for BBR’s indie bottling (BBR being a very famous wine merchant from London, doing single cask bottling, and the current owner of the Glenrothes distillery – if you needed any introduction, probably not..) . I am not sure what happened, but probably samples arrived late, compliments of the Israeli sodding postal services. I did try most of the samples from back then, but this one waiting patiently until now, I am not quite sure why. Older single grain is lovely, and I always say that single grain does start to shine when it’s over 30 unlike malt which is often better younger (if you’re not the kind that likes lots of wood influence). Anyways, this distillery is indeed an oddball, being a short-lived distillery which only ran between 1958 and 1980. a 1973 single grain can’t be bad, right? it’s even older than I am , huh!
Berry’s Own North of Scotland 1973 cask #14570 , 46 % abv,
Nose: A lovely Vanilla and crème Brule. Some ripe banana on top. Key lime pie and sugar icing. A bit of sour balsamic and old wood furniture. really everything you can come to expect from an older single grain, maybe a bit more wood would be nicer.
Palate: Delicious and sweet with a peppery bite up front. Then it gets creamier with lots of vanilla and crème Catalan. Banana bread and oak. Corn syrup and polish. Splendid.
Finish: Sweet and spicy. Sugar icing and clove.
This is a highly enjoyable older single grain, no big surprises here, classic stuff, sweet, creamy and showing its age quite nicely. I’d prefer a bit more of the old wood influence, then it would have been in 90’s territory.
Score: 89/100
Official sample provided by BBR