It has become customary for distilleries to sell barrels of whisky to blenders and independent bottlers as a means of making additional income.[1][2][3][4] In fact, some distilleries exist solely to serve independent bottlers, and do not market any brands themselves.[5][6]
Distilleries also pass on barrels of whisky to ensure consistency. When blending whisky, they ensure consistency by using barrels with similar flavours. If a particular flavour is notably different, it may be deemed uncharacteristic of the distillery and as such cannot be used in “official” product bottlings. Whiskies bottled by independent bottlers may or may not be labelled with the distillery of origin, but tend not to use the distillery's trademarks such as logos, fonts and images as they may not have the authorization to do so.
Contents |
In general, the fact that a whisky was produced by an independent bottler does not, by itself, provide any indication of quality. Independently-bottled whisky ranges from "bottom shelf" products of low price and quality to the finest classes of whiskies. However, an independent bottler can sometimes provide more niche-style products due to the nature of their business model.
Independently bottled whisky is sometimes bottled at Natural Cask Strength, which means it is not diluted from the strength that comes out of the barrel. This often results in a more full-flavoured whisky, because lowering the strength by dilution also dilutes the flavour. Independent Bottlers may also not chill filter the whisky, a process which involves removing fatty acids, proteins and esters to give the whisky a clearer appearance. Chill filtering can affect flavour, however, because these compounds account for a lot of the taste (the esters, for example, have a fruit-like aroma). One further measure often not taken when independently bottling whisky is the addition of spirit caramel for colouring.[7]
Due to the long history and marketing campaigns undergone by some distilleries, their brands may be associated with a great deal of prestige. As such, proprietary bottlings can sometimes command a higher price than an independently bottled whisky from the same distillery. Because of this, independently bottled whisky is often much cheaper, which can enable connoisseurs and whisky drinkers to try “rarer”, older whisky without paying quite so much.[8] However, as distilleries often strive for consistency, and are careful not to tarnish their reputations, their branded bottlings can sometimes be more reliable.
Some whiskies that are bottled by independent bottlers are marketed without identification of the source distillery. These are often referred to as “secret bottlings”. The distiller may be unnamed because the distilleries that produce them only want their name associated with whisky released by themselves, or because the bottler wants to have the ability to buy from various distilleries without changing their label or revealing their trade secrets.
This type of secrecy is not always absolute. An example of a semi-secret bottling is the “Tactical Selection” from Douglas Laing & Co’s Old Malt Cask range. The bottlers have not stated the distillery, but in the style of many secret bottlings, they give clues as to its origins. In this case a geographical location; Tactical Selection was distilled on the Isle of Skye – which is home to only one whisky distillery, Talisker. The name “Tactical” also bares marked phonetic semblance to Talisker, thus giving an additional clue to its source.[9]
Tactics such as these may allow bottlers to indicate their source without breaching trademark or contract agreements.[10]