Black Bottle
Black Bottle is a blended Scotch Whisky bottled by Burn Stewart Distillers. The brand was introduced in 1879 and was first produced by Aberdeen tea blenders Charles, David and Gordon Graham. After many years of decline prompted by a distillery fire and subsequent business sale, Black Bottle was revitalised in 1990 with a new blend using Islay single malt whiskies.
Black Bottle was indeed sold in a black bottle until 1914. Supplies of the black glass bottle came from Germany and had to be abandoned after the start of World War I. Since then, the non-vintage bottle has been dark green, but the 10-year-old and now discontinued 15-year-old bottles are coated with black plastic, giving the appearance of a truly black bottle.
Expressions
Black Bottle is produced in two widely-available expressions:
- The standard non-vintage black bottle (pictured). Whiskies contained in this expression are thought to be at least 7 years old.
- Black Bottle 10 years old. Whiskies contained herein were no less than 10 years old. Black Bottle 10 years old was discontinued in 2010.
- Black Bottle was also produced for a time at a minimum age of 15 years, but this expression has since been discontinued.
As with most whiskies, Black Bottle is produced in different sized bottles (70cl or 750 ml), and at different ABV (40% or 43%) depending on which market it is produced for (European or American, respectively).
External links
- Official site
- Dr. Whisky on Black Bottle