Founded in the closing years of the nineteenth century, North British was born not from a romantic dream of a Highland glen but from the resolutely practical minds of Edinburgh’s whisky merchants. In 1885, a consortium led by Andrew Usher and William Sanderson decided that the capital needed a steady, independent supply of grain spirit to feed the booming blends of the day. Thus the North British Distilling Company was created, a formidable counterweight to the monopoly of Distillers Company Limited. Its history is therefore entwined with questions of power, competition, and the city’s role in shaping modern Scotch.

The site chosen lay in the west of Edinburgh, at Gorgie, where railway lines and the Union Canal provided ample access for coal, grain, and casks. Even now, visitors to Murrayfield Stadium might catch a faint whiff of sweet mash on the breeze. Though utilitarian in appearance, the distillery remains one of the largest in Scotland, a quiet workhorse whose output sustains innumerable blends. Ownership today is shared between Diageo and Edrington, a neat reminder that yesterday’s rivals can become today’s partners.

Production at North British is unashamedly industrial. Maize, imported in staggering quantities, forms the backbone of its mash bill, though wheat is also employed. Continuous Coffey stills, humming day and night, turn out vast rivers of spirit. Much of it disappears into the shadows of blend, yet those who seek out independent bottlings will find a whisky that can be surprisingly elegant: light in body, with vanilla, honeyed sweetness, and a gentle grassy note, all softened by years in American oak. It is a reminder that even the great blending distilleries can, on occasion, step out from behind the curtain and take a bow.