These are the Top 10 best Scotch Whiskies you’ve never tried. Any pitches? Let us know in the comments below.
There are the household names in whisky that everyone knows. And then there are the workhorse distilleries quietly churning out spirit for blends. The latter group rarely see the spotlight, but indie bottlers have been cracking open casks and giving whisky fans a chance to try something a bit different.
The best Scotch whiskies you’ve never tried aren’t mythical unicorns locked away in collectors’ cabinets. They’re hiding in plain sight. This isn’t a list of extinct distilleries with bottles you’ll never see again. Where’s the fun in that?
These are drams you can still get your hands on. Each shows just how good some of Scotch whisky’s quieter players really are.
The Top 10 best Scotch Whiskies you’ve never tried
Glen Spey 17 Year Old 2007 (cask 3) – Cask Strength Collection (Signatory)
Product description: Distilled in 2007, this Glen Spey single malt was matured for 17 years in a first-fill oloroso sherry butt before Signatory bottled it in 2025. A total of 646 bottles at cask strength were harvested from this fine cask.
Why the distillery is cool: Glen Spey is one of Diageo’s stealthiest distilleries, hidden away in Rothes and usually vanishing into blends. The spirit is famously light, thanks to a purifier on the stills. This makes it a fascinating canvas for sherry cask maturation. Independent bottlings like this let you see just how much character hides behind the blend curtain.
Glentauchers 14 Year Old 2010 – Benchmark (Murray McDavid)
Product description: Distilled in 2010, this Glentauchers single malt spent 14 years maturing, including a final three in Hungarian Tokaji wine casks. Murray McDavid bottled it for the Benchmark collection in 2024.
Why the distillery is cool: The vast majority of Glentauchers’ whisky goes straight into blends like Ballantine’s. But the manual distillery makes a sublime fruit-forward single malt that you should get to know. That makes every indie release a rare treat, and this one shows how well Glentauchers’ style takes to bold wine casks.
Tormore Blueprint 10 Year Old Toasted Barrel
Product description: Tormore was taken over by Elixir Distillers in 2022, with production restarting under Polly Logan in 2023. While we wait for the new house style, the Blueprint series explores future cask directions. This one matured for 10 years in toasted barrels, giving notes of oak char, burnt caramel, dried herbs, and peppery spice.
Why the distillery is cool: Tormore has one of the most striking distillery buildings in Scotland, designed in the 1950s by Sir Albert Richardson. For years, though, the whisky itself didn’t get the same attention. Under Elixir’s ownership, that’s changing, and the Blueprint series offers a sneak peek at what we can expect going forward.
Girvan 40 Year Old 1985 (Master of Malt 40th Anniversary Bottling)
Product description: Distilled in 1985 and aged in a refill sherry butt for four decades, this single grain Girvan was bottled to mark our 40th anniversary in 2025. You want to experience chewy toffee, candied nuts, and rich old oak? Try this.
Why the distillery is cool: Girvan is one of Scotland’s great grain distilleries, built by William Grant & Sons in the early 1960s. Plenty of drinkers dismiss the humble grain, but long-aged Girvan proves how it can evolve into something complex, elegant, and absolutely worth sipping neat.
Glenburgie 28 Year Old 1994 (cask 10081) – Connoisseurs Choice (Gordon & MacPhail)
Product description: Matured for 28 years in a refill American hogshead, this 1994 Glenburgie was bottled in 2023 for Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseurs Choice range. There are just 138 bottles out there.
Why the distillery is cool: Glenburgie is another blending powerhouse at the heart of Ballantine’s. Official bottlings are few and far between, but its robust, fruity, almost creamy spirit ages beautifully.
Aultmore 10 Year Old Oloroso Cask Finish (Darkness)
Product description: Darkness gave this Aultmore a finish in a custom-made oloroso sherry octave. It amplifies its 10 years of maturation with layers of flamed citrus, stewed fruit, coastal salinity, soot, and spice.
Why the distillery is cool: Aultmore remains relatively and criminally under the radar compared to its Speyside neighbours. It’s naturally fragrant, grassy spirit takes sherry casks beautifully. Indie bottlers like Darkness aren’t shy about giving it a bold, experimental edge.
Glenlossie 16 Year Old 2009 – Distilleries of Great Britain & Ireland (James Eadie)
Product description: Distilled in 2009, this Glenlossie spent 16 years maturing, including a 39-month finish in a single European oak oloroso butt. James Eadie released 697 bottles for its Distilleries of Great Britain & Ireland series.
Why the distillery is cool: Mannochmore’s neighbour Glenlossie is part of a two-distillery, one-site workhorse for Diageo. You’ve probably tasted it in Johnnie Walker, but its grassy, waxy spirit deserves more attention. The distillery uses a purifier pipe similar to Glen Spey’s, giving a delicate, almost oily texture. Cask finishes like this one show off just how versatile Glenlossie can be.
Profound Richness 10 Year Old
Product description: Profound Richness is a 10-year-old Highland single malt full of powerful, meaty depth. A large portion was finished in sherry casks, and that bold malt and hefty sherry influence tangle brilliantly. The result is a dram of dried fruit, leather, and tobacco.
Why the brand is cool: Sometimes, more is more. This is a brand that leans into decadence and deliciousness. And who doesn’t want that?
Teaninich 9 Year Old 2013 – Strictly Limited (Càrn Mòr)
Product description: Here we have a nine-year-old single malt from Teaninich, distilled in 2013 and matured in a European oak cask until 2023. Càrn Mòr got all 1,174 bottles of it for the Strictly Limited collection. This is a bottler you can back to introduce you to many great whiskies.
Why the brand is cool: A Highland distillery most drinkers have never set foot in (or even heard of), but Diageo swears by it as blend stock. Its quirky mash filter, instead of a mash tun, gives the spirit an oily, grassy character that indie bottlers love to showcase.
Braeval 10 Year Old 2014 – Woodrow’s of Edinburgh
Product description: Distilled at Braeval in 2014, this Speysider spent the next decade maturing in a first-fill oloroso sherry hogshead before the cask was cracked open by the fine people at Woodrow’s of Edinburgh.
Why the brand is cool: Perched high in the Braes of Glenlivet, Braeval is one of Scotland’s highest distilleries, built in the 1970s and designed almost entirely for blending stock. Indie bottlings are the best way to taste its elegant, floral spirit for years.
That was the Top 10 best Scotch Whiskies you’ve never tried. Let us know in the comments below if we missed any.