We have well over 180 Single Malts to choose from:
Distillery Bottlings and Hard to find Unique Independent Bottlings

 

 

 

 

A WORD ABOUT INDEPENDENT BOTTLERS                         by Robert Kaplan

Next time you’re perusing a long line of single malts, notice that certain bottles give
prominent age statements but no vintage dating; others give you the year of
production as well as an age statement. Does a vintage date matter? Why for some
and not for others? Understanding how single malts are produced will clear up this 
question.

By definition a Single Malts is made from only malted barley and water. Only one distillery
is the source of the whiskey made, and the date on the bottle signifies the youngest whisky
used. However, single malts are not the product of a single cask, in fact operating distilleries
usually have large stocks of their malt at different ages, possibly stored in a variety of casks.
The distillery’s aim is to create a “house style” that is readily available from one year to another.
 

Independent bottlers select and buy single casks from various distilleries or spirit brokers,
and then mature and warehouse it themselves. If they have several casks from the same
distillery they might bottle an assemblage of the casks; they might elect to bottle a single
cask if they feel that it represents the taste that they consider to be at its best. In either
case the whiskey is unique and vintage dating makes sense as a person may wish to find
again his initial tasting experience.

 

Robert Kaplan picks two selections from two of the most experienced and
highest quality Independent Bottlers:

Gordon & McPhail  and Murray McDavid

 
Jura, 1991, 12 yrs  in oak cask, 43% alc/vol
Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice

…. in the Inner Hebrides, next to Islay, the isle of Jura is inhabited by 225 people.
Its 150 square miles are mostly a wilderness of rock, moorland and peat. In taste
Jura is expressive this landscape – on a solitary walk along the rugged coast  with
the briny wind in your face, the faint smell of the peat bog, and the sound of the
waters flowing over the land.
 

Longmorn, 1990, 14 yrs in Bourbon cask, 46% alc/vol, unchilled filtered
Murray McDavid

Soft, clean aromas of fruit, oak and salt with a touch of liquorice/ aniseed.
The palate is delicate with an intensity that builds nicely to a floral/ fruity finish
with that hint of salt.