The Italian Car Series is a range of whiskies bottled by Jan Vissers who owns the Fisser brand and the Single Malt Whisky Shop in Geel, Belgium. Jan is a notorious Arran ambassador and lover of Italian cars, with famous Ferrari models adorning his labels. Check the excellent Glenlivet 2007 sherry hogshead for instance. After six single malts there is now also a single grain release, represented by a Fiat 50 HP from 1908.
I’m talking about this North British 1995, a 25 year-old Lowlands grain selected from the Douglas Laing stocks.
North British 25 yo 1995 (54,7%, Italian Car series 2021, plain refill barrel, 165 btl.)
Nose: starts with a hint of acetone and a pleasant sourness of lemon sherbet and ginger lemonade with a slice of lime. After that it starts developing sweeter notes. Buttery sweetness, shortbread and coconut. Hints of floral honey. Pencil shavings. A bit of a peppery tingle too.
Mouth: rather citrusy again, for a grain whisky. Lemon candy, pineapple, citrus green tea, slowly moving towards vanilla, popcorn and coconut. Bourbonny wood, with varnish and a wee oily / metallic touch. Slightly herbaceous too, but never too plankish.
Finish: quite long, on breakfast cereals, oak spice and creamy vanilla.
A fresh and rather citrusy grain, avoiding excessive sweetness or bloated wood. A very drinkable grain. Around € 140 – contact details are on the website.