1964 21 Year Old

A cask strength bottling of Balblair, bottled by Gordon & MacPhail for Intertrade in Italy. Distilled in 1964 and bottled 1985.

Intertrade was established in Italy in the early 1980s by Nadi Fiori, the owner of the Taverna degli Artisti bar in Rimini. The company was a collaboration with beer distributors, the Turatello Brothers, and the Intertrade name appears on Fiori's bottlings up to around 1989. Fiori selected his whiskies from the Gordon & MacPhail catalogue, but as a collector himself, and a contemporary of his fellow connoisseur countrymen, Silvano Samaroli and Ernesto Mainardi, he knew the importance striking label designs and requested many of his bottlings at cask strength. Whether under the Intertrade, Turatello or High Spirits banner, Fiori's bottlings are some of the most sought after on the market.

Balblair distillery in situated in the northern Highland region, currently under the ownership of Inver House Distillers and previously part of the Hiram Walker empire before it became Allied Distillers. Allied sold it to Inver House in 1996, who introduced the much-loved vintage-dated core range in 2007. Distillery bottlings were also produced in the 1980s but in the intervening years, independent releases like this were the most commonly available way to sample this lesser-known Highland single malt.