North Port-Brechin 20 Years - 1979

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8201
North Port-Brechin
Scotland, Highlands
Single Malt Whisky
20 Years
1979
1999
61.2%
0.7 l
Original bottling
Rare Malts Selection

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2
Tasting Notes 2

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Davisscholar
30. Mar 2015
Harsh nose, brilliant palate, takes buckets of water. What an interesting dram.

The nose of this Scotch is dominated extremely by the most pungent, fresh and fusel-y alcohol I have smelled in any Whisky claiming this age. Even more amazingly, this pungent alcohol dominates at almost any degree of dilution. It only starts to tame down after bringing the dram below 35% ABV. The "fresh" alcohol must be what people call the "green" character, like wintergreen and fenugreek.
After painful minutes of parching one's nasal mucosa, one can find a dark, rich, brooding character underlying the spirit. Old leather, rich, dried fruits, motor oil, heather, and yes, that green apple.

The palate, given enough caution at any strength or dilution, is quite brilliant and one of the richest, oiliest I have tasted in ages, too. Dried fruits join honey and fish oil at the front- and mid-palate, after which the bite and coffee-like bitterness come in.

Long, but spirity finish with earthy "rancio" notes.
Davisscholar
13. Apr 2015
Additional tastings of this dram support my impressions from above.

A majorly aldehyde-driven dram, which on initial nosing may seem like green apple, Sotolon and cumin, with a potential light lavender note. This really tells you something about the distillation style and quality of aging, which could have been a lot better.

It is very unfortunate that the nose is so dominated by sharp, pungent chemical notes of aldehyde, fusel alcohols and even Ethyl Acetate. They mask everything else and really point at poor production processes.

A great pity, as the palate would otherwise make this an immediate 5-star and all-time favorite. Incredible richness and complexity of flavor on the palate, but harshly cut short by the pungent (dare I say flawed?) style and the obvious addition of caramel coloring.