The Perfect Collection Part Two

Fettercairn 1962 Cadenhead's 22 Year Old

Wm. Cadenhead are Scotland's oldest independent bottler, operating for over 175 years, but perhaps none of their bottlings are as sought after as these 'dumpy' style bottles. These were produced with brown glass and an iconic black label (white for the occasional grain whisky), with each distillery given its own letterpress font in homage to William Cadenhead's early career in the printing business.​​​​​​​

This Fettercairn was distilled in December 1962 and bottled January 1986.

Fettercairn distillery was built in 1825 and aside froma brief period in mothballs in the 1930s, has been in operation ever since. It was re-opened from that closure in 1939 by Associated Scottish Distilleries, the Scotch arm of the post-Prohibition drinks giant in the US, National Distillers. When ASD ceased trading in 1954 the distillery passed through various hands before being bought by Whyte & Mackay in 1973. Despite being an important contributor to their blends, they also pushed Fettercairn as a single malt brand, as well as making casks available to independent companies for bottlings like this. 

North Port 1971 Rare Malts 23 Year Old 75cl / 54.7% - US Import

The Rare Malts Selection was a historic selection of single malt whiskies from operational and lost distilleries that were released by Diageo between 1995 and 2005. As with the Flora & Fauna series, they were often from lesser-seen single malt distilleries.

The Brechin distillery was built in 1820 by the Guthrie family, who changed its named to North Port at some point later that century. It was acquired by DCL (now Diageo) in 1922, who closed it down six years later. Production briefly resumed for two years before the war, but it was not until 1945 that regular distilling recommenced. North Port was one of the nine distilleries closed by DCL in 1983 after a market downturn meant their blends were over-supplied. It never re-opened and the site now houses a supermarket. Its single malt is very rare, and was never officially bottled in its lifetime. Diageo have produced only a handful of distillery bottlings, the first of which were in the Rare Malts Selection.

Distilled in 1971, this was the first ever North Port distillery bottling and is one of three in the Rare Malts Selection.

Fettercairn 1980 Cadenhead's 12 Year Old 75cl / 150th Anniversary

The Authentic Collection was launched by Wm. Cadenhead in 1991, and included whiskies from several rare closed Scottish and Irish distilleries, bottled for the company's 150th anniversary. It would later go on to become a mainstay of their portfolio, as the cask strength alternative to the Original Collection, which replaced their famous \"dumpy\" bottlings in the early 1990s. The Authentic Collection is now the flagship Cadenhead brand, and one of the most recognisable independent labels on the market.

This 12 year old Fettercairn is one of the original 150th anniversary releases.

Fettercairn distillery was built in 1825 and aside froma brief period in mothballs in the 1930s, has been in operation ever since. It was re-opened from that closure in 1939 by Associated Scottish Distilleries, the Scotch arm of the post-Prohibition drinks giant in the US, National Distillers. When ASD ceased trading in 1954 the distillery passed through various hands before being bought by Whyte & Mackay in 1973. Despite being an important contributor to their blends, they also pushed Fettercairn as a single malt brand, as well as making casks available to independent companies for bottlings like this. 

Fettercairn 1970 Signatory Vintage 25 Year Old 75cl / US Import

Fettercairn distillery was built in 1825 and aside froma brief period in mothballs in the 1930s, has been in operation ever since. It was re-opened from that closure in 1939 by Associated Scottish Distilleries, the Scotch arm of the post-Prohibition drinks giant in the US, National Distillers. When ASD ceased trading in 1954 the distillery passed through various hands before being bought by Whyte & Mackay in 1973. Despite being an important contributor to their blends, they also pushed Fettercairn as a single malt brand, as well as making casks available to independent companies for bottlings like this. 

This is a Signatory Vintage bottling from Signatory Vintage, distilled in 1970 and bottled in December 1995.

Signatory Vintage were established in 1988 by Andrew Symington and are one of Scotland's most prolific independent bottlers. Their offices and bottling facility are located next to Edradour distillery, which they have also owned since 2002.

Finlaggan 1979 Islay Single Malt Decanter

The Vintage Malt Whisky Company is a family-owned firm in Glasgow, founded in 1992 by Brian Crook. In addition to their Cooper's Choice series, they also bottle number of their own single malt brands, such as this Finlaggan (an Islay) and Tantallan (a Highland), using whisky sourced from unspecified distilleries. 

North of Scotland 1963 Scott's Selection 75cl / US Import

The Scott's Selection range was launched in the 1990s and was originally bottled from casks hand-selected by former Speyside distillery Master Distiller, Robert Scott. They are always filled un-chillfiltered and at a natural cask strength.

This is a 1964 vintage single grain from Scott's former employer, North of Scotland distillery.

North of Scotland began production in 1958, and was the first venture from George P. Christie, who later opened the Speyside distillery as well. North of Scotland originally distilled malt whisky as well, known as Strathmore, but its pot still were removed after just one year to focus on its grain production. Sadly the distillery was short-lived, shut down by Christie in 1980 in anticipation of the era of oversupply, also referred to as the \"whisky loch.\" The site was sold to DCL in 1982 and is nowadays used as a bond and warehousing operation by Diageo. Primarily tasked with provision for blends, there are very few releases of North of Scotland grain. An official 50 year old was bottled in 2017 in partnership with Elixir Distillers, but the majority of independent bottlings are from independent labels like this.

North Port 1982 Blackadder 13 Year Old Natural Strength

Blackadder International were founded in 1995 by whisky writers, Robin Tucek and John Lamond, authors of the 1987 publication, The Malt Whisky File: The Essential Guide for the Malt Whisky Connoisseur. The company has gained great affection from whisky enthusiasts for its Raw Cask series, which is deliberately drawn un-filtered from the cask so as to retain all cask sediment along with any natural oils and fats. The company is credited with a key role in the popularisation of cask strength whiskies since its inception.

This is a 1982 vintage North Port, bottled as natural strength in May 1996.

The Brechin distillery was built in 1820 by the Guthrie family, who changed its named to North Port at some point later that century. It was acquired by DCL (now Diageo) in 1922, who closed it down six years later. Production briefly resumed for two years before the war, but it was not until 1945 that regular distilling recommenced. North Port was one of the nine distilleries closed by DCL in 1983 after a market downturn meant their blends were over-supplied. It never re-opened and the site now houses a supermarket. Its single malt is very rare, and was never officially bottled in its lifetime. Diageo have produced only a handful of distillery bottlings, the first of which were in the Rare Malts Selection. Rare and increasingly sought after independent releases like this have also appeared over the years though. 

North Port 1976 Cadenhead's 19 Year Old 75cl / US Import

The Authentic Collection was launched by Wm. Cadenhead in 1991, and included whiskies from several rare closed Scottish and Irish distilleries, bottled for the company's 150th anniversary. It would later go on to become a mainstay of their portfolio, as the cask strength alternative to the Original Collection, which replaced their famous \"dumpy\" bottlings in the early 1990s. The Authentic Collection is now the flagship Cadenhead brand, and one of the most recognisable independent labels on the market.

This is a 1976 vintage North Port, bottled in December 1995.

The Brechin distillery was built in 1820 by the Guthrie family, who changed its named to North Port at some point later that century. It was acquired by DCL (now Diageo) in 1922, who closed it down six years later. Production briefly resumed for two years before the war, but it was not until 1945 that regular distilling recommenced. North Port was one of the nine distilleries closed by DCL in 1983 after a market downturn meant their blends were over-supplied. It never re-opened and the site now houses a supermarket. Its single malt is very rare, and was never officially bottled in its lifetime. Diageo have produced only a handful of distillery bottlings, the first of which were in the Rare Malts Selection. Rare and increasingly sought after independent releases like this have also appeared over the years though.

North Port 1976 Cadenhead's 20 Year Old 75cl / US Import

The Authentic Collection was launched by Wm. Cadenhead in 1991, and included whiskies from several rare closed Scottish and Irish distilleries, bottled for the company's 150th anniversary. It would later go on to become a mainstay of their portfolio, as the cask strength alternative to the Original Collection, which replaced their famous \"dumpy\" bottlings in the early 1990s. The Authentic Collection is now the flagship Cadenhead brand, and one of the most recognisable independent labels on the market.

This is a 1976 vintage from North Port, bottled in March 1997.

The Brechin distillery was built in 1820 by the Guthrie family, who changed its named to North Port at some point later that century. It was acquired by DCL (now Diageo) in 1922, who closed it down six years later. Production briefly resumed for two years before the war, but it was not until 1945 that regular distilling recommenced. North Port was one of the nine distilleries closed by DCL in 1983 after a market downturn meant their blends were over-supplied. It never re-opened and the site now houses a supermarket. Its single malt is very rare, and was never officially bottled in its lifetime. Diageo have produced only a handful of distillery bottlings, the first of which were in the Rare Malts Selection. Rare and increasingly sought after independent releases like this have also appeared over the years though. 

Fettercairn 1980 Whyte and Whyte 13 Year Old 75cl / Spirits Library

Fettercairn distillery was built in 1825 and aside froma brief period in mothballs in the 1930s, has been in operation ever since. It was re-opened from that closure in 1939 by Associated Scottish Distilleries, the Scotch arm of the post-Prohibition drinks giant in the US, National Distillers. When ASD ceased trading in 1954 the distillery passed through various hands before being bought by Whyte & Mackay in 1973. Despite being an important contributor to their blends, they also pushed Fettercairn as a single malt brand, as well as making casks available to independent companies for bottlings like this. 

This was bottled for Whyte and Whyte, a Chicago-based independent spirits distributor in the US. The company had a UK arm that sourced casks of single malt from a variety of specialist firms, including Signatory Vintage and Wm. Cadenhead. This bottle is part of a sought after series the company imported for the Spirits Library, a Scotch and Cognac retailer in the US. Whyte and Whyte ceased trading in 1998, and these bottles are an increasing rarity.

Fettercairn 875 8 Year Old 1970s / Orlandi Import

Fettercairn distillery was built in 1825 and aside froma brief period in mothballs in the 1930s, has been in operation ever since. It was re-opened from that closure in 1939 by Associated Scottish Distilleries, the Scotch arm of the post-Prohibition drinks giant in the US, National Distillers. When ASD ceased trading in 1954 the distillery passed through various hands before being bought by Whyte & Mackay in 1973. Despite being an important contributor to their blends, they also pushed Fettercairn as a single malt brand, known as \"Old Fettercairn\" until 2002 when the prefix was dropped. 

This is the first single malt bottling of the Whyte & Mackay era, predating their launch of the Old Fettercairn brand. Named simply after the distillery (as it is again today), the 875 is simple too; 8 for its age, and 75 for its imperial proof. There was also a 575 for the Italian market.

Ferintosh 10 Year Old Speyside Single Malt

A mystery single Speyside single malt, bottled by Invergordon Distillers and likely from one of the Speyside distilleries in the Whyte & Mackay portfolio, such as Tamnavulin...

The brand is named after Ferintosh distillery, which was destroyed by a fire in the 17th century.

Frysk Hynder 2007 Frisian Single Malt​

Frysk Hynder is the single malt brand of the Us Heit distillery and Brewery in Frisia, The Netherlands.

This 2007 vintage has been matured in single red wine cask #51 and was bottled in January 2007.

Finlaggan Old Reserve Islay Single Malt 75cl / US Import

The Vintage Malt Whisky Company is a family-owned firm in Glasgow, founded in 1992 by Brian Crook. In addition to their Cooper's Choice series, they also bottle number of their own single malt brands, such as this Finlaggan (an Islay) and Tantallan (a Highland), using whisky sourced from unspecified distilleries.