North British 1991 34 Years Old – Finn Thomson (60,3% - 700ml)

At the end of the nineteenth century those who produced blended Scotch had a problem: grain whisky could be bought from only one supplier, the DCL. In 1885 four of the largest blenders and merchants in Edinburgh (Andrew Usher, William Sanderson, John Crabbie and James Watson) joined forces and built a distillery of their own, so as to secure an independent source. Thus North British was born, on ten acres in the Gorgie district, chosen for its proximity to the railway and the Union Canal. Production began in 1887 with a single Coffey still and within three years capacity had already doubled.

North British is one of the oldest and largest grain distilleries in Scotland and today belongs to a joint venture between Diageo and Edrington. The spirit is made from maize and malted barley and is considered one of the more robust grains available, with a profile that tends towards coconut, vanilla and cereal. Virtually all production serves the major blends: the distillery has never released an official bottling under its own name, and the only bottles labelled North British on the market are those from independent bottlers.

Finn Thomson is the ninth generation of a Perthshire family that has revolved around whisky for three centuries: his ancestor James Thomson, born in 1713, worked the fields by day and distilled in secret as evening fell. The current bottles are very elegant and well suited as a prestigious gift; they have nine sides, one for each generation of the family, and a custom-made ceramic stopper.

After thirty-four years in cask this North British still comes out at 60.3%, a very high figure for a spirit of that age — usually a maturation of this kind is rarely found above 45%. It is the sign of a perfect cask and of maturation in a dry warehouse, where evaporation has reduced the volume more than the strength.

The North British 1991 34 Years Old Finn Thomson is a single grain Scotch whisky, distilled on 2 June 1991 and matured in a single hogshead (#456), before being bottled on 2 January 2026 at its natural strength of 60.3% vol. without chill filtration and without the addition of colouring, in only 170 bottles.