As a cask comes to maturity, Finn curates sampling sessions in interesting and relaxing environments, with friends, whisky experts and trusted partners to discover the personality of each cask and gauge the experience each dram evokes.
All the best distillers pride themselves on crafting whisky with a distinctive flavour, which is determined by the water source, grain and barley, the peat and malting, and their distilling processes. High quality original spirit is integral to every cask we bottle.
The cask itself interacts with the whisky over time. The type of wood plays a big role, as do treatments such as the whiskies are aged in a variety of types of casks. The whiskies are aged in former sherry or bourbon casks, augmenting the cask influence. External conditions such as air temperature, pressure and humidity also interact with the cask producing a knock-on effect that makes the spirit inside unique.
Finn uses these factors to balance each FT whisky experience. He may sample a cask and decide to leave it on the rack, allowing age to further develop its personality. He might decide to re-rack a whisky in a new cask to add a finishing touch. Or, he might simply deem it ready. When Finn decides the flavour is perfectly balanced, it’s time to bottle the whisky.
Without even knowing at the time, North British was my first introduction to the world of Scotch whisky. Nestled between Murrayfield and Tynecastle Stadium, the malty smells from the distillery were synonymous with my trips to watch football and rugby matches. Even now, living in central Edinburgh, I still get wafts of the sweet, biscuity wort being produced when the wind blows the right way.
It is a distillery of great significance to my family as my grandfather and great grandfather's company, Peter Thomson Ltd, once had a stake in North British and it formed the grain base for their popular Golden Beneagles blend.
North British is one of the unsung heroes of the Scotch whisky industry. A grain distillery that produces its spirit from maize, North British is present in most of the top blends which have made Scotch whisky so famous across the world. The maize base gives the spirit a buttery texture that is more complex than many of the other single grains. It is a quite vast operation, producing around 10 bottles of whisky per second at full capacity. With no official bottlings from the distillery itself, it is left to independent bottlers like ourselves to showcase this quiet giant.
This particular cask has been filled into a fairly active American Oak hogshead. The creamy character of the spirit has been transformed into toffee and caramel sweetness. The American oak has worked its magic and those trademark vanilla notes are very present.
At almost 60% ABV there’s no doubt this is a strong whisky but there’s a real elegance about it too. The sweet toffee and caramel notes come through strongest. With a dollop of water that creamy, buttery texture coats the mouth. Personally I prefer it neat where the toffee popcorn notes are more pronounced. Aged single grains really are one of the unsung heroes of the whisky industry and this is no exception.
Without even knowing at the time, North British was my first introduction to the world of Scotch whisky. Nestled between Murrayfield and Tynecastle Stadium, the malty smells from the distillery were synonymous with my trips to watch football and rugby matches. Even now, living in central Edinburgh, I still get wafts of the sweet, biscuity wort being produced when the wind blows the right way.
It is a distillery of great significance to my family as my grandfather and great grandfather's company, Peter Thomson Ltd, once had a stake in North British and it formed the grain base for their popular Golden Beneagles blend.
North British is one of the unsung heroes of the Scotch whisky industry. A grain distillery that produces its spirit from maize, North British is present in most of the top blends which have made Scotch whisky so famous across the world. The maize base gives the spirit a buttery texture that is more complex than many of the other single grains. It is a quite vast operation, producing around 10 bottles of whisky per second at full capacity. With no official bottlings from the distillery itself, it is left to independent bottlers like ourselves to showcase this quiet giant.
This particular cask has been filled into a fairly active American Oak hogshead. The creamy character of the spirit has been transformed into toffee and caramel sweetness. The American oak has worked its magic and those trademark vanilla notes are very present.
At almost 60% ABV there’s no doubt this is a strong whisky but there’s a real elegance about it too. The sweet toffee and caramel notes come through strongest. With a dollop of water that creamy, buttery texture coats the mouth. Personally I prefer it neat where the toffee popcorn notes are more pronounced. Aged single grains really are one of the unsung heroes of the whisky industry and this is no exception.