North Port

North Port stood at the old north gate of Brechin, a market town in Angus on the eastern edge of the Highlands. It was founded in the early nineteenth century and worked for well over a hundred and fifty years before being closed in 1983, during the wave of closures across the Scotch whisky industry in the early 1980s. The buildings were later demolished, so no more spirit will ever be made.

Because the distillery made whisky mainly for blending, official single malt bottlings were always scarce. The best-known is the 20 Year Old Rare Malts 1979, part of the series of cask strength releases from closed and little-seen distilleries.

Most North Port a buyer meets today comes from independent bottlers. Gordon & MacPhail released vintages such as 1981 and 1982 in its Connoisseurs Choice range, Signatory bottled sherry casks and a 36 Year Old 1981 for its 30th Anniversary, and Cadenhead offered 1976 casks at 18 and 21 years old. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottled it under code 74, for example SMWS 74.2 and 74.5.

With stocks finite and the distillery gone, these bottles are mostly found at auction and in collectors' cellars, and prices reflect that rarity.