North Port-Brechin 27-year-old (D.1981, B.2008) Rarest of Rare Duncan Taylor /56.5%/ 0.7l

Rarest of the Rare is Duncan Taylor Ltd.'s historic series of single malt whiskies from closed distilleries and bottled in their natural state.

The North Port-Brechin presented here, distilled in April 1981, just two years before production ceased, spent over 27 years in barrel no. 779. Its contents in October 2008 translated into 396 bottles of cask strength whisky (56.5% abv). North Port Distillery, also known as Brechin, produced whisky between 1820 and 1983. It was a small distillery, with a production capacity of around 750,000 litres of alcohol per year. Almost all of the production went to blends of the DCL concern.

Nose : slightly smoky and waxy, freshly ground coffee, a handful of dry herbs, roasted almonds, forest floor, notes of shoe polish and paraffin.

Palate: roasted chestnuts and sesame seeds, heather honey, caramel, apples, pears, quince jam, mint, lemongrass, oak and peat smoke in the background.

Finish: quite long, with strong notes of roasted cereal grains, pine resin, hay, dried herbs, peat and oak.