North British 31 years old (D.1988, B.2020) The Sovereign HL /52,4%/ – The Sovereign is a small range of single cask single grain whiskies aged for a minimum of 25 years and very often much longer. It is part of Hunter Laing & Co. portfolio, a company founded by Stewart Laing after parting ways with his brother Fred and splitting Douglas Laing & Co. assets in 2013. Whiskies in the Sovereign range are bottled at natural strength, without coloring and chill-filtration. North British presented here was distilled in October 1988 and aged in ex-bourbon barrel # HL 17662 then bottled at 52.4% abv in February 2020 with an outrun of 197 bottles. North British is owned by Lothian Distillers, a joint venture between Diageo and The Edrington Group with each company holding 50% of shares, and produces 65 million liters of spirit per annum with corn being main distilling grain.
Nose: pretty sweet, hard candy, vanilla, brown sugar, canned pineapple, banana bread, coconut water, cinnamon, hints of fresh herbs and oak. Palate: vanilla, toffee, caramel popcorn, maple syrup, bananas, baked apples, cinnamon buns, coconut flakes, hints of tobacco and toasted oak. Finish: medium long, with notes of buttered toast, vanilla, brown sugar, nougat, cinnamon and oak.
