Since most distilleries choose to offer only a limited range of official bottlings, the existence of Independent Bottlers if of great benefit to the whisky industry. Independent Bottlers buy casks from distilleries and other sources and thus gain control of the whisky and of how it will be used. They may for example decide to finish the whisky in a different cask from which it was stored, they may decide to allow the whisky to mature for several more years and they may vary the alcohol content at which the whisky is bottled. They often also buy stores from distilleries which have been closed down, thus rescuing whisky which otherwise might have been lost.
Since the Independent Bottlers often buy only a few or even a single cask at a time, there is often a limited supply of their releases. The bottles are commonly labelled with information about:
- When the whisky was distilled
- When it was bottled
- At which distillery it was distilled (not all distilleries agree to this)
- What type of casks the whisky has been stored in (sherry butts, bourbon barrels, port pipes etc)
- The casks in which the whisky has been matured
- The number of the bottle
- The number of bottles in the release
Independent Bottlers often bottle their whisky at cask strength without adding any colour additives and without chill-filtering the whisky. Once the whisky is bought it is often removed from the warehouses of the producing distillery. The difference in the microclimate allows the whisky to mature a bit differently from the official bottlings –another example of how Independent Bottlers enrich the whisky industry.
A few examples of Independent Bottlers
Adelphi >>
Berry Bros & Rudd >>
Blackadder >>
Brands Development Worldwide >>
Cadenhead >> Butik i London
Compass Box Whisky >>
Douglas Laing >>
Douglas Murdoch (Murdoch’s Perfection blends)
Duncan Taylor & Co Ltd >> (köp en egen tunna…)
Gordon & MacPhail >>
Hart Brothers >>
Ian MacLeod >>
Inveratrity Vaults >>
Loch Fyne >> (även en whiskybutik online)
Murray McDavid >>
Prabàn Na Linne Ltd. >>
Scottish Malt Whisky Society >>
Spirit of Scotland >>
Signatory (email) >>
The Master of Malt >>
The Vintage Malt Whisky Company >> (Cooper’s Choice, Finlaggan, Tantallan, Glenalmond)
Whisky Castle >>
Whisky Galore >>