TradeIndependent Bottlers
cask curators and custodians
Single casks, rare finds and distilleries not in the spotlight.
We Champion Independent Bottlers
Distilleries make the whisky, but independent bottlers go hunting for the best bits. They buy casks, monitor their progress, and bottle the results on their own terms, often showing a distillery in a light its owners never would.
That means single casks you'll never see again, cask-strength pours, old stock from distilleries long since closed, natural colour, no chill-filtration, cask finishes, and gloriously odd experiments. It all depends on the bottler, and those choices are where some of whisky's most interesting flavours come from.
Some have been at it for well over a century, others are rewriting the rulebook as they go. Either way, the whisky shelf is a far more exciting place with them on it. And yes, we've included a few of our own. We wouldn't bottle them if we didn't think they were boss, would we?
Gordon & MacPhail
If independent bottling had a royal family, this would be it. It started life as a grocer's shop in Elgin in 1895, founded by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail, and the family behind it has spent well over a century filling its own casks at Scotland's distilleries and then, crucially, waiting. They are masters of maturation with more patience than most. It all pays off eventually...
FREE TAMNAVULIN 31YO DRAM
Info
Tasting notes
MacPhail's 40 Year Old
(Gordon & MacPhail)
This generously aged Speysider is brought to us by Gordon & MacPhail as part of the revered MacPhail's collection. Matured for a mighty 40 years, with a generous stay in a host of sherry casks, you can expect a rich, complex, and luxurious profile here, layered with mellow oak, dried fruits, dark chocolate, and floral honey.
"What can you say about a 40yo single malt selected by Gordon & MacPhail that isn’t already implied by the premise? That it lives up to expectations, perhaps, or that a lot of whiskies its age will cost a lot more and not offer as much. Four decades of measured maturation including some generous sherry cask influence brings mellow oak, dried fruit, dark chocolate and floral honey. Take your time with this one."
Adam O'Connell
Whisky nerd and principal dancer with The Royal Ballet.
Douglas Laing
Founded in Glasgow in 1948 by Fred Douglas Laing and now in its third generation of family ownership, Douglas Laing is the bottler that put personality on the shelf. The house motto compares a single malt to a violin and a blended malt to a full orchestra, which tells you everything. For the purists, Old Particular brings single casks from across Scotland.
FREE TASTING GLASS
Info
Tasting notes
Glen Scotia 11 Year Old 2015 - Old Particular
(Douglas Laing)
An independently bottled Glen Scotia from Douglas Laing’s Old Particular collection. The Campbeltown single malt spent 11 years maturing in a single bourbon barrel, developing plenty of vanilla, orchard fruit, and coastal character, with a gentle thread of smoke underneath. This bottle also comes with a free tasting glass while stocks last.
"You don’t see much Glen Scotia beyond its core range, but Douglas Laing is a suitable caretaker for the lovely liquid, letting a single bourbon barrel give it all the grace and space it needs to develop its signature smoky, oily, rich style. Alongside soft, creamy vanilla and orchard fruit flavours, this is, if anything, a little too easy to keep sipping at."
Adam O'Connell
Whisky nerd and certified mate of Ainsley Harriott.
Duncan Taylor
The cask hoarders of Huntly. Founded in Glasgow in 1938 as a cask broker, Duncan Taylor quietly built up one of the great private stashes of old Scotch, much of it from distilleries that have since closed, still maturing in their warehouses today. Below, we've dipped into The Octave: single casks given a final rest in tiny octave casks.
Info
Tasting notes
Linkwood 12 Year Old 2014
(cask 7650437) Palo Cortado Cask
The Octave (Duncan Taylor)
Distilled at Linkwood in 2014, this single malt spent the next dozen years maturing, including a finish in a Palo Cortado octave cask, bringing waves of rich dark fruit to the distillery's nutty, grassy malt. Just 84 bottles emerged from cask 7650437, presented at 54.6% ABV without chill filtration or added colour.
"Duncan Taylor, Linkwood and a Palo Cortado cask is a combination I’d happily make room for any day. Bottled at 54.6% ABV, the appeal is getting to explore this particular cask treatment, at this strength, from an underrated distillery without making a three-figure commitment. If you’re curious about this kind of sherry cask, or already enjoy Linkwood and fancy seeing it in different company, this belongs on the shortlist."
Adam O'Connell
Whisky nerd and ninth in line to the Danish throne.
Berry Bros. & Rudd
Three centuries and change at No.3 St James's Street, London, and still going. Berry Bros. & Rudd has been trading since 1698, and while most people know them for wine, the family will tell you their spirits heritage runs even deeper. They've thrown themselves into their own range of hand-picked, independently bottled spirits, Berrys' Own Selection. Alongside the Scotch, their Odyssey Range goes looking further afield, and the guiding question has always been refreshingly simple: is it good to drink?
Info
Tasting notes
Lark 4 Year Old 2016
(cask CC21) Odyssey Range Release – The Auld & The Bold (Berry Bros. & Rudd)
Berry Bros. & Rudd’s Odyssey Range celebrates distillers reshaping whisky traditions around the world, and this Tasmanian single cask from Lark is a bold example of that philosophy in action. Matured entirely in an Australian tawny Port cask, it showcases the intensity and richness modern Australian whisky can achieve in remarkably little time.
Distilled at Lark Distillery, founded by Australian whisky pioneer Bill Lark, this whisky matured for four years before bottling at a punchy 62.9% ABV. A total of 279 bottles were drawn from cask #CC21.
"Young whisky isn’t bad whisky, as this Tasmanian single malt demonstrates. At just four years old it already has plenty to say for itself thanks to full maturation in an Australian tawny cask, with dark fruit, chocolate, sticky toffee and spice. The 62.9% ABV strength gives it so much presence too. Anyone partial to Port-style rich, wine-cask goodness will like this. Just 279 bottles drawn, so don’t let it disappear if you’re keen."
Adam O'Connell
Whisky nerd and shell of his former self.
Master of Malt
We love whisky, we do... It's in the name. Did you know that Master of Malt originally started trading as an independent bottler in 1985? We're older than the World Wide Web!
"Our bottlings give us room to indulge a few obsessions. Good whisky, obviously. Retro gaming, as you’ll spot from the CaskCade Collection above. Those labels salute our button-bashing glory days, with whiskies well worth putting the controller down for. Then there’s a single cask from Edinburgh’s young Holyrood distillery, old corn whisky fit for celebrating Canada, and a Benrinnes given the full Pedro Ximénez sherry octave treatment. Different ages, different influences, same ol’ MoM; bottling the whisky you want to drink."
Adam O'Connell
Whisky nerd and champion ‘G’ splitter.
