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Whisky's independent bottlings
Gordon & MacPhail
Gordon & MacPhail is one of Scotland's most respected independent bottlers. What was founded as a grocery and wine merchant business back in 1895 has developed into a successful venture, with the family-owned business now in charge of the Benromach Distillery (above) alongside bottling single malt whisky from the tens of thousands of casks they have resting in different locations across Scotland. Photo: whiskyintelligence.com -
The family has even retained the original business premise in Elgin (a must-visit), where more than 1000 malts are available for purchase, including unicorn bottlings such as the Glenlivet 70 Year Old. Bottlings (such as the 1976 Mortlach pictured) are well distributed throughout Australia's bigger retail chains as well as in the smaller independent stores and bars. Photo: masterofmalt.com -
Signatory Vintage Scotch Whisky
Founded in 1988, Signatory bottles some stunning single cask, cask-strength bottlings, including an unchill-filtered series which rarely disappoints. Photo: The Whisky Company -
The company also purchased a malt whisky distillery, Edradour, in 2002, and both the distillery and Signatory bottlings are well worth seeking out. The best place to find Signatory bottlings in Australia is on the locally-owned The Whisky Company website. Photo: whisky.com -
Wm Cadenhead & Co.
As a wine and spirit merchant, Cadenhead's, as it is often referred to, can trace its roots back to 1842. It's now owned by J & A Mitchell, owners of the Springbank Distillery, and has a chain of 10 whisky shops throughout the UK and Europe, including Edinburgh (above). Photo: coolplaces.co.uk -
The most commonly available releases you'll find in Australia are the single cask and small batch expressions, such as this 38-year-old from the Highlands, which hail from a wide variety of Scottish malt and grain facilities. -
They also bottle rums, cognacs, and the odd bourbon, and their Cadenhead's Old Raj Dry Gin (above) is a must-try. To get your hands on some, Nicks Wine Merchants have a stellar Cadenhead's range. Photo: masterofmalt.com -
Adelphi Distillery
This independent bottler takes it name from the Adelphi Distillery which closed way back in 1902. In recent years, the company has built the Ardnamurchan Distillery (above), which started producing in 2014 to complement the 50 casks of single malt it bottles each year. -
None of these whiskies are coloured or chill-filtered, and all of them are bottled at cask strength, such as this expression from Caol Ila (2003, 58.1% ABV). Despite their relative rarity, Adelphi releases are well distributed through many top Australian independent retailers and bars. -
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) sits in a category all on its own. The idea from its inception in the 1980s was to purchase and bottle quality single malt whisky straight from the cask with no dilution, no chill-filtration and no colouring. It has since grown into society with more than 20,000 members worldwide and branches across 17 countries, including a number of successful chapters in Australia. A number of partner bars also exist here, where you can taste some of these remarkable whiskies for yourself. But if you want to get your hands on a bottle, you've got to become a member. -
Tasmian Heartwood Malt Whisky. Photo: Heartwood -
But that's great to see, because Heartwood bottles some of the finest Australian malt whisky available, and has recently expanded by purchasing casks from a range of other Tassie whisky producers. Photo: Heartwood -
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Sometimes the world of single malt whisky reminds me of that scene in The Matrix. You know, the one with the blue pill and the red pill: you take the blue pill, the story ends and you wake up in your bed, believe what you want to believe. Or you take the red pill and find out how deep the rabbit hole goes.
This somewhat obtuse association came to me over the weekend when a chap ordered "a Laphroaig 18 year old" while I was working behind the bar. I asked him if he was after the distillery bottling or one of the other Laphroaig 18s we had by independent bottlers.
He gave me a confused, mildly annoyed look and told me he had no idea what I was talking about. So I quickly brought down the bottles and explained the differences between the three 18-year-olds from the same distillery.
He stuck with the blue pill. The independent bottlings seemed sacrilegious, he told me.
Fair play, too; whisky is confusing enough as it is without throwing independent bottlers (and bollocks analogies) into the fray. But some of the most innovative, value-for-money whiskies I've tried in recent times have been independent bottlings (IBs for short), and if you have even a passing interest in single malt whisky, it pays to keep an open mind.
Down the rabbit hole
What are IBs? Basically, there are companies out there that buy casks of whisky from distilleries – or, in rare cases, buy spirit which they mature themselves - and then release that whisky under their own separate label.
But unlike most single malt brands, for instance – your Glenfiddichs and Glenlivets, which have a clear distillery profile and aim to produce a consistent product every time – these bottlers often seek out expressions that are subtly, or even completely distinct from your average distillery bottlings.
Quality over quantity
So are they any good? And why would distilleries wilfully choose to part with their casks?
Obviously, it's in the interest of the IBs to consistently bottle unique, quality whiskies to keep punters coming back for more and to ensure distilleries have the confidence to keep selling them casks of their whisky.
Even so, some distilleries refuse to sell casks to IBs, a growing trend due to stock shortages, while others don't allow their distillery names to be listed on the bottle if their whisky is bottled independently.
But the reason many distilleries still offload and trade stock is because certain casks might, for any number of reasons, not fit in with their plans. The cash flow brought in from selling casks is also a factor here, especially for smaller distilleries.
Finding the one
Because these bottling companies are often small, independently-owned concerns, their whiskies can be hard to come by.
But if you'd like to get a taste of some of these rare, innovative, often single cask releases, click through the gallery above to find some of the best IBs to look out for in bars and retailers across Australia.
Have you dabbled in independent bottlings? Do you think they're as good as distillery releases, or better? Let us know in the Comments section.
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