The whiskies in this blend were all distilled in 1971 — more than forty of them, malt and grain together — and vatted in 1983 for release as a premium twelve-year-old aimed at the American market. Demand fell short of the volume made, and the surplus was refilled into ex-Oloroso sherry butts and returned to the warehouse for nine more years. A portion of that was drawn off and bottled as a twenty-one-year-old blend; what remained went into ex-American oak barrels for a final twenty-four years in traditional dunnage before The Last Drop acquired and bottled it in June 2017, at forty-five years and 46.7%. Three maturation phases, in three different wood regimes, none of them planned as a project — which is the point. Blended Scotch of this age exists mainly where commercial arithmetic failed, and this is one of those cases. One cask was held back from the 2017 bottling and later became Release No. 29, a separate whisky with its own age, strength and cask history.

Every bottle sold through Midnight Whiskey is sourced as an authentic, sealed product and inspected before it ships. Orders are packed with padded, glass-rated handling and require an adult signature (21+) on delivery; we do not ship to anyone unable to verify legal drinking age. For our full sourcing and handling protocols, see our editorial and authentication standards.

How old is The Last Drop 1971 Blended Scotch?

It is a 45 year old blended Scotch whisky. The 1971 in the name is the year every constituent whisky was distilled, not the age — the blend was assembled in 1983 as a twelve-year-old, spent nine further years in ex-Oloroso sherry butts, and then a final twenty-four years in ex-American oak before bottling at 46.7% ABV, which is 93.4 US proof.

Is The Last Drop 1971 a single malt or a blend?

It is a blended Scotch whisky, built from more than forty separate malt and grain whiskies, all of them distilled in 1971. That is what blended Scotch means: malt whisky and grain whisky combined, rather than the output of one distillery. Blends of this age are uncommon because most were drunk young.

What is the difference between The Last Drop 1971 and Release No. 29?

They come from the same 1971 blend. Release No. 10 is the bottling made in 2017 at 45 years old and 46.7% ABV, of which 1,352 bottles were filled. The Last Drop held one cask back, finished it in an ex-Jamaican-rum barrel and released it as Release No. 29 at 50 years old and 49.1% ABV, in a run of 182 bottles. The age, the strength, the cask history and the bottle count all differ.