Berry's North British 1996

Tasting Notes

Andrew's Tasting Note

Nose: decadent, fresh, and a touch medicinal with loads of citrus; Murphy's Lemon Oil Soap; French crepes dusted in powdered sugar with fresh squeezed lemon; a touch of lemon meringue pie and sugar cookies.

Palate: light, fresh, fruity, and very soft; more Murphy's Lemon Oil Soap, a hint of Pinesol, and Listerine; Playdough and window putty; bags of lemon, melons, and dried apricot; French crepes, powdered sugar, and more fresh squeezed lemon; boozy homemade limoncello; lemon meringue pie and Scottish shortbread dusted in white sugar.

Finish: light, fresh, medicinal, and fruity; medium long and oily.

Comment: this is a lovely, fresh twenty-something grain, spirit-driven, and just kissed by oak; this is on the verge of going tropical... in 5-10 more years this might have been a very tropical grain! 

Producer Tasting Note

Nose: Oaky and earthy with delicate citrus seeping through. The citrus builds with bruised banana and dustings of nutmeg. A trace of smoked haddock delivers interest but does not break the good balance.

Palate: Nice delivery with more overt yellow fruit. A bit more of the sweet banana and some ripe melon build. The honey strands carry the flavours nicely. Slight smoked fishiness lingers with some saltiness.

Finish: Mature and interesting as all elements persist. Reasonably long and integrated.

Independent Bottler

One of our favourite independent bottlers, Berry Bros. & Rudd is a stored London based firm which has resided at #3 St. James Street, a stone's throw from St. James Palace, since 1698. Primarily a wine merchant, they have also played a prominent role in the Scotch whisky industry. In addition to founding the Cutty Sark Blend, and managing the Glenrothes brand for 30 years, BBR is also an independent bottler. We have long been impressed not only by the quality of their independent bottlings, but also their value! 

Berry Bros. & Rudd in Their Own Words

With two Royal Warrants and more than 300 years of history, Berry Bros. & Rudd is Britain’s original wine and spirits merchant. 

We can trace our history back to 1698, when an enterprising woman called the Widow Bourne started an “Italian grocer’s” at No.3 St James’s Street, selling tea, snuff, spices and the most fashionable drink of the day, coffee. The sign of the coffee mill still hangs outside our premises at No.3 today, in tribute to our roots.

In due course, our focus shifted to something a little bit stronger. As wine became important to the business, so too did spirits, and we started bottling casks under our label in the early 19th century, making us Britain’s oldest independent spirits bottler. Three centuries on, the family business continues to flourish, with its heart still very much at No.3.

While much has changed over the years, we are still owned and managed by members of the Berry and Rudd families, and we continue to supply the British Royal Family, as we have done since the reign of King George III. We still, from time to time, weigh customers on a giant set of coffee scales, a tradition which began in the 1760s, with Lord Byron, William Pitt and Beau Brummell among those who have had their weights recorded in our ledgers. Most importantly, we still believe that everything you should look for in a wine or spirit comes down to one simple question: “Is it good to drink?”