North Port 1975 SV Brechin

by Serge WF : North Port Brechin 26 yo 1975/2001 (55.6%, Signatory Vintage, Silent Stills, cask #2960, 211 bottles) Yes North Port used to be called North Port Brechin or North Port (Brechin). Or sometimes North Port-Brechin. Nobody’s talking about North Port anymore, let’s put that straight! Colour: straw. Nose: old Highlands, of the burnt-wood kind. Was that a regional style? Some burning grass again, gravel and dust, soot, coal, damp clothes and raw wool, aspirin tablets, old cellar, fresh concrete… Also rainwater, then more burnt grass and leaves… So a very austere nose, nowhere else to be found these days. This is not tasting, it’s whisky archaelogy. With water: harder. Cardboard and grass, no fruitiness at all. Mouth (neat): indeed, archaeology. I do not know of any active distillery, whether in Scotland or in Outer Mongolia, that’s producing something even remotely akin to this. It’s acrid and ultra-lemony at the same time, sometimes bitter, grassy, with also vegetables (artichokes?), more lemon, lime, citrons… Big big stuff, uncompromising as some used to say. How many uncompromising distilleries are still working in Scotland? With water: cardboard and lemon, a funny combination. Finish: rather long, but the cardboard wins the fight. Comments: un-boringly weird. It’s been hard not to use the word ‘umami’. SGP:462 - 82 points.