Vintage whisky

Buy and explore whiskies from specific years and decades...

Vintage whiskies are rare. Most whiskies whether they are single malts, grains or blended whiskies are made up of different casks of different ages. Your favourite 12 year old single malt will contain whiskies from the same distillery distilled over a few years with the youngest component being 12 years old. But sometimes you will see whiskies, almost always single malts, that come entirely from spirits distilled in a particular year. They may be from an individual cask or from a marriage of casks all distilled in that year. The important thing to note is the year in which the whisky was bottled as this will give you its age. So for example a whisky distilled in 1995 and bottled in 2010 will be 15 years old as whisky does not change once it has been taken out of a wooden cask and put in an inert container. Unlike with wine, you probably won’t see a huge variation in the taste of vintages, apart from some being younger and some older, but sometimes unusually warm and dry, or cold and wet weather at harvest can be detected in the finished product. What vintage whiskies are perfect for, however, is marking special occasions such as birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and other milestone events. Some whisky lovers even lay down a cask on the birth of a child so that the lucky child can enjoy a dram of vintage single cask whisky when they reach the age of majority.

Select a decade

2020s

10 decades of whisky

Whiskies of the 2020s

The biggest event of the 2020s was the global Covid pandemic which affected whisky just as it did the entire world. It didn’t seem to stop people building distilleries and releasing new whiskies not just in Scotland but all over the world.

2020

Whiskies of the 2010s

There was great music from Beyoncé, Daft Punk and Taylor Swift while in whisky the preemincne of Scotland’s single malts was challenged by the growing appreciation of Japanese whisky - naturally prices then went through the roof. Also Gangnam Style.

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Whiskies of the 2000s

The long boom of the 00s ended with the financial crash of 2008 but it didn’t seem to affect Scotch whisky with prices of rare bottles beginning to take off. And there was a rash of new producers in Scotland such as Kilchoman, the first new distillery to be built on Islay for 124 years. It was not to be the last.

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Whiskies of the 1990s

House music goes mainstream, Nirvana and Blur vs Oasis - it’s hard to think of the ‘90s without thinking of the soundtrack. Meanwhile Scotch whisky was on the road to recovery helped by a burgeoning interest in single malt whiskies while Americans were waking up to the greatness of their home-grown spirits.

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Whiskies of the 1980s

The 1980s were a time of great change around the world with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the ending of communism in Eastern Europe. Things weren’t so rosy in Scotland however, with overproduction leading to the closure of distilleries like Brora and Port Ellen - but they would be back!

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

Whiskies of the 1970s

While the youngsters grooved to Marc Bolan and David Bowie, Scotch whisky was continuing to expand with new distilleries coming on stream and whisky lovers around the world were beginning to pick up on the joys of single malts.

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

Whiskies of the 1960s

As The Beatles became ‘bigger than Jesus’, Scotch whisky continued to grow into a global spirit. To feed demand, new malt distilleries were constructed such as Tormore, Tomintoul and Tamnavulin (that’s just the ones beginning with ‘t’). Meanwhile Glenfiddich starts building the first modern single malt brand.

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

Whiskies of the 1950s

Rock ‘n’ Roll arrived from America and Brylcreem sales went through the roof as everyone tried to emulate the look of Elvis Presley. Meanwhile Scotch whisky exports were booming to the US with blends like J&B and Cutty Sark.

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

Whiskies of the 1940s

The decade of the Second World War produced some memorable works such as Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson in Brief Encounter, and George Orwell’s 1984. It was another difficult year for Scotch whisky as production slowed to a dribble to save grain to feed the population.

1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

Whiskies of the 1930s

This was the decade that people were getting down to ‘Minnie the Moocher’ by Cab Calloway and his Orchestra or watching the Marx Brothers’ A Night at the Opera (still incredibly funny). Meanwhile things weren’t so amusing in Scotland as the global depression meant the closure of many Scotch whisky distilleries.

1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

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