Distillers Versus Independents: Which Bottle to Buy

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Independent bottling's are great, and very much something too look out for when considering your next bottle. Quality whisky retailers will always carry a selection of extremely appetising looking bottles. It therefore isn't a question of either or, but rather an opportunity to make a fully informed judgement about how to make your next purchase the best it can be.

The Top Five reasons to consider independent bottling's over official bottling's are:

Water: Official bottling's  are typically diluted with water from their natural alcohol content to a standard market level. Diageo whisky's such as Lagavulin 16 are watered down to 43% whilst Laphroaig 10 is 40%. independent bottling's  will often offer cask strength, undiluted expressions of your favorite malts, or at least a 46% ABV.

Chillfiltration: Official bottling's unfortunately still have a tendency to chillfilter their whisky to prevent inconsistencies and cloudiness in the bottle. Again Diageo are prime culprits in this area with all over their 'Classic Malt's' being chillfiltered. Most independent bottling's will specifically list "uncolored, unchillfiltered" on the bottle. This means you're getting richer flavors from the oils that may have been lost in the filtration process.

Colourant: Many Official bottling's also still use caramel food coloring to darken the whisky; hey Diageo; yes I'm talkin' to you. Caol Ila, Craggenmore, Dalwhinnie, Lagavulin, Oban, and Talisker all contain caramel coloring. As a general rule independent bottling's never add coloring.

Single Cask: Official bottling's are all about consistency; making sure the next bottle that a person buys tastes the same as the last. Laphroaig has to produce tens of thousands of bottles annually, and each one has to taste the same. Independent bottlers have no such restrictions. They age each barrel to the point at which they think it's ready to be bottled and released; and at whatever vintage (year of distillation and age) that they like. Each release is different which is part of the fun.

Price: With an independent bottling you can find seriously well-aged malts at a much more affordable price than the official releases. If you're looking for a 25, 30 or 40 year malt then independent bottling's are a great place to start looking.

On my shelves right now, the distillery bottling's dominate; especially rare and limited releases such as the Diageo Lagavulin and Caol Ila cask strength releases, Ardbeg Day bottlings such as Auriverdes, Perpetuum and Dark Cove, Bowmore Devils Cask, the now defunct Laphroaig 18 yrs Old, and so forth. However I do have a small number of independent bottling's, each  from different  distilleries such as Alt a Bhainne, Bunnahbhain, Highland Park. These bottling's come from a range of independent sources including:

• Alchemist
• Douglas Laing
• Gordon & McPhail
• Hunter Laing
• James MacAruther
• MacKillop's Choice
• Signatory

Independent bottlers often use their own casks; they get filled at the distillery and then returned to sit in warehouse until its decided that this whisky should be bottled. Spirit from distilleries all over Scotland have gone into barrels owned by independent bottlers, and getting to grips with these bottling's really helped me understand the role of the cask in whisky maturation. Because so much of these bottling' s are single cask whisky; rather than a combination of a number of casks vatted or 'married' together; the cask really does effect the whisky. I view casks like used cars. You want a thorough documented history to understand what the wood will do to the spirit; whether it be a second or third refill cask for a peated malt; to produce a similar sort of characteristics or an Ardbeg 10; or a refill sherry butt for a Speyside whisky to be aged in over several decades. Just like cars have license plates, casks have numbers and codes allowing databases too keep precise track of its history, and therefore the likely impact on the spirit.

What this means is that unlike the overwhelming majority of distillery bottling's; which despite the name Single Malt Whisky' are a collection of casks of different ages coming together. I view a single cask whisky as a 'true Single Malt'. I don't get obsessive about it; I buy all kinds of bottling's; but I do love a fine single cask whisky, especially at cask strength. I recommend too look into them; cost wise these independent bottling's are very competative, are almost always non chillfiltered and naturally coloured. The prices increase for the more salable brands of course; which is why Bunnahbhain really hits the value sweet spot for very fashionable islay malts. Visit your quality local whisky specialist ask if you can taste any samples, and for more information on how the wood effect the spirit see my article.

Link: Whisky: Nature Vs. Nurture Part 02

My personal thoughts are the best whisky's tend to bottled from a single cask. This makes logically sense when you consider that the master distiller doesn't take into account what casks will work together. I don't belief in Gestalt principles when it comes to whisky I'm afraid; I believe that the parts individual are (at least potentially) greater than the whole. It's upto you whether you agree or not; but if you haven't been aware of independent bottlers up until now then I hope I've at least opened your eyes to the possibilities.

Take a look at the Luxury Dram series for reviews of high quality Single Cask Malt Whisky from independent bottlers siuch as Hunter Laing. I'll be reviewing a MacKillop's Choice 23 yr Old Bowmore soon as part of this so look out for that.

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