North of Scotland distillery Also known as Strathmore was founded in 1957 on the site of the former Knox Forth Brewery, by George Christie of the North of Scotland distilling Co. and was a neighbour of the Cambus distillery. It was closed in 1980 and finally demolished around 1993, although I believe some warehousing still exists on the site and is used by the Cambus distillery.

Distillery photo with kind permission by Teimei Horiuchi

North of Scotland, Single grain whisky, 1970-2005, 43% ABV

Independent bottling; Private Cellar

Original cost of this bottle; €€€€€

"Dram-atics" live review

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Yellow gold (9ct)

Nose: Aromatic and slightly perfumed hay and grasses with a hint of sweet liquorice root and light rubber.

Palate: Smooth and creamy with those aromatic grasses and hay, but the palate grows in stature as it finds a little perfumed sweetness followed by creamy toffee flavoured candy floss.

With 4 drops of water: The toffee flavour intensifies a little and the grass and hay diminish.

Finish: Long and slightly dry with something between butterscotch and light toffee, perhaps even a caramel dessert sauce.

Overall Impression: A most enjoyable, slightly less floral, less perfumed single grain.

North of Scotland, Single grain whisky, 1964-2008, 44.8% ABV

Independent bottling; Scott's Selection

Original cost of this bottle; Unknown

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Shiny dark oak

Nose: All I can say here is a wonderful aroma akin to butterscotch marinated in furniture polish. Yes, really.

Palate: That butterscotch and furniture polish carries equally well onto the palate alongside suggestions of creamy milky toffee. Then vanilla appears too. A broad spectrum of great flavours..

Finish: Medium length.

Overall Impression: Everything I love about an older single grain, wonderful, nay wow, it's a 'Great'.

Alloa 40 years old, Cask No. 30295, bottle No. 36 of 204, distilled July 1964, bottled Feb. 2005. 42.5% ABV

Single grain whisky, Hart Brothers (IB), bottled for Munich whisky festival

Original cost of this bottle; €€€€€ (this was 'new' price, although it may now be €€€€€)

For info. on Alloa (Grange) distillery, please see below.

Nose: The luxury of honey and butterscotch with a hint of apricots, peaches and cream. Overlaid on this is a delicate promise of something just very slightly spicy.

After a few minutes standing it now retains the peachy fruitiness, but also offers aromas of wheat and cereal.

Palate: Some say that whisky should be kept in the mouth one second for each year of the whisky's age. So, here goes; it takes something like 10 seconds for the flavours to emerge and the first one is of a slightly sweet, perhaps butterscotch likeness. After twenty seconds, the spiciness begins to grow and overpowers the sweetness. But this is certainly not unpleasant. This spiciness spreads from the middle of the tongue to the extremities and brings with it the flavours of peaches and ice cream - a wonderful experience. From 30-40 seconds the peaches and ice cream flavours dominate and the spiciness recedes to the background.

Aftertaste: The aftertaste, including the after-tingle is long and pleasant on both the front and back of the tongue and is one of butterscotch rather than peaches and cream.

With 3 drops of water: Oh dear, just 3 drops of water in about 1cl of whisky is too much. The palate is weakened but the aftertaste improves and lengthens - strange, I have never encountered this before.

Overall impression: Wonderfully smooth, just a like a single grain should be. Lots of summer fruit including peach and apricot, but also with a slightly spicy butterscotch element dominating the aftertaste.

This is a thoroughly pleasant dram which I love!

Alambic Classique, Alloa, 14.7.1964-7.4.2008, 43y, 46.1% ABV

Cask 80312, bottle 53 of 121

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€ to €€€€€

"Dram-atics" live review

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Glowing amber

Nose: Rich and fruity with perfumed wood, in fact it's almost very old sun-dried driftwood.

Palate: Very rich and intense with apricot and butterscotch and it's deliciously chewy whilst retaining a very creamy mouth-feel.

Finish: Long rich and very tender

Overall Impression: I'm very impressed, especially with the tenderness. Not quite a great, but really not far away.

There was indeed once an "Alloa" distillery also known as "Grange" which was located at Grange Road, Alloa, Clackmannanshire. It's not certain when this was founded, but it was in use in 1795 when it was run by Alexander Glen. It was closed in 1851 and the location is now used by Diageo, I believe as a mill. The above "Alloa" grain whisky was produced by North of Scotland or Strathmore distillery.

Distillery photos with kind permission by Teimei Horiuchi