Independent Whiskies

Bottled exclusively for New Zealand by the talented team at Whisky Galore. Distilled from heavily peated barley, this peated spirit (known by its 'codename' as Staoisha) has matured in a cask that has been given a process of de-charring and re-charring to maximize the development and extraction of flavour from the wood.

On the nose, a rich and oily scent of toasted peanuts surrounded by thick peat smoke and a medicinal quality of old first-aid kits (bandages and antiseptic) and salted-caramel. To taste, there is sweet, malty chocolate biscuits joining a tang of salt & vinegar chips, before a surge of rich peat smoke carried on a highly viscous mouthfeel.?

Glengoyne is a small farm-style distillery located under the slopes of Dumgoyne in at the southern border of the Scottish Highlands.

The second bottling from Douglas Laing's 2020 outturn this is also from a refill hogshead REF - DL14559. Distilled in August 2005

The notes say to expect the distillery's typical clean, crisp, fruity barley but in a mouthcoating, syrupy, even sugary style with a touch of citrus tang. Non chill filtered at 48.4%. 260 bottles from a refill hogshead.

Nose: Clean and crisp, sweet and spiced, gristy and honeyed.... so fresh and fruity.

Palate: Deliciously mouthcoating in syrupy, sugary style - warming spice and runs to barley.

Finish: Gently toasted developing to allspice, tangy citrus notes and Malted barley (FHL).

Aroma: Rich and sweet with fruitcake and vanilla aromas. Sherry influences intertwine with zesty citrus notes.

Taste: Spicy with cinnamon, stewed plum and orange marmalade combining with a smooth milk chocolate finish.

Part of Signatory's new '100 proof' collection, this vibrant Ben Nevis is a rare example of the distillery's peated stock. Bottled from a range of refill ex Oloroso casks, there are notes of sweet peat smoke, bold spicy marmalade, fire roasted nuts, industrial coal smoke and hints of earthiness.

Part of Signatory's new '100 proof' collection, this bottling of Glentauchers was matured in a selection of first fill Oloroso casks for twelve years. There are notes of sweet yellow fruits, stewed sultanas, floral honey, rich chocolate and sweet oak, burned sugars and honeycomb.

Part of Signatory's new '100 proof' collection, this bottling sees Glenrothes spirit married with a selection of Oloroso Sherry casks. There are resinous notes of pine needles and sap, along with delicate heather honey, vibrant citrus peel, boozy sherried dark fruits, fresh herbs and black forest gateau.

SAMAROLI ISLAY
SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY
BOTTLED IN SCOTLAND IN 2023

Our eye - or better our nose - dwells on this youngster, allowing us to bottle yet another iteration of our philosophy of Islay, the queen of Scotland. We stand before a young, arrogant and daring Caol Ila. Despite its youth, the mastery conferred by wood presents us with a slightly peaty note. In addition, we sense shy hints of yeast, butter and smoked meats reminiscent of our hearth after last night?s fire is spent. And now almond, hazelnut and candied fruit. 

The saline plane surprises us in terms of equilibrium and harmony. Suggestions of herring and anchovy, a classic marina scent with flashes of the mineral. Those caper bushes descending towards the Sicilian sea are now evoked. To the right the Pillars of Heracles. To the left, the mysterious and intriguing East. There is a narrow border between the ocean and the sky which is lighter and therefore easy to identify. Some may say that Brittany is where we can best learn to distinguish this.

A.W.B. 

COMPOSITION: 3 casks of Caol Ila 2013 - Hogshead - Refill Bourbon
BOTTLES PRODUCED: 1104
ABV: 45%

Aged for 10 years in first-fill sherry casks, this Edradour offers the distinctive flavour of dense, moist Christmas cake laden with currants, raisins and glace fruits. The palate carries a thick, bitter-chocolate sauce tone, with tangy plum joining in, finishing earthy and heavily spiced.

Ledaig 23YO 1998 Black Series D.Laing is a vintage whiskey from Tobermory Distillery by Douglas Laing & Co. Whiskey distilled in 1998. It matured for 23 years. Whiskey bottled without cold filtration.

A second addition to the INK #3 series marketed by French Retailer, Le Comptoir Irlandais is this toddler Blair Athol. While the distillery's production is primarily intended for Bell's, indies are on the rise. This one from Signatory Vintage was distilled in 2013 and filled into a rechar hogshead (a reconstituted & re-burnt cask). Akin to a malt-heavy blend, it's softer than usual for Blair Athol, offering vanilla and fruit salad on the nose as well as hints of beeswax. Likewise, the mouthfeel surprises: supple and slightly oily with flavours of barley cake, grain store and pineapple pudding, before wood spices rise in the medium long finish

46% ABV

A fruity, creamy Glen Elgin here from Douglas Laing, distilled in April 2011. Into a single refill hogshead it went, where it stayed for the next eight years. In January 2020, it was bottled for the Provenance series, with a release of just 359 bottles.

Distilled - April 2011

Bottled - January 2020

Refill Hogshead - REF - DL13789

Nose: Grassy & fresh .... green apples, barley sugar and caramelised nuts. 

Palate: An oak warmth initially then comes sherbet, meringue and clotted cream.

Finish: Long with runny honey and toffee balanced nicely by citrus peels (CSL).

Port Dundas 23yo Refill PX Sherry Hogshead Cask Finish #366662

Nose
Full, rich notes of dried fruits, dark cherries and sandalwood, alongside figs, redcurrants and raspberries.

Taste
Rich and fruity, with juicy cherries, red berries, plums and hints of red velvet cake.

Finish
Baked strawberries and plump, juicy cherries.

THIS ITEM WILL SHIP FROM OUR HAMILTON WAREHOUSE.

In just a fraction of a second, this bottling takes us to Laphroaig to breathe in the particularly invigorating salty sea air. Next, acting as a link between the peat and the other ingredients of the aroma and flavour palette, incredibly smooth dark chocolate brings us irresistibly towards the malting floors filled with the utterly divine fragrances of germinating barley.

Nose: clean, complex. On the first nose, traces of rubber, intense smoke and gentian root dig furrows into an anthracite-coloured peat. Allowed to breathe, this peat becomes more oily and medicinal (band-aid, merbromin), salty and even hot (cayenne). Gradually, the gamy character takes over (smoked fish and bacon). At the same time, the aromatic palette is undeniably jaunty, spring-like and bright.

Palate: powerful, lively. On the attack, blocks of chocolatey peat roll across the palate. Immediately after, iodine tincture and mustard seed bring lots of vitality. The mid-palate is a subtle mixture of herbaceous (hay, malted barley), fruity (pear, Golden Delicious) and vanilla sequences. At the end of the palate, a subtle liqueur of acacia honey and roasted pineapple unctuously floods the entire palette of flavours.

Finish: long, generous. In archetypal Laphroaig style, the start of the finish is peaty/chocolatey, fruity, iodine and phenolic (hydrocarbon, sleet). Rooted in its terroir (gentian, ginger), in a mineral-rich soil. A handful of dried fruits (almond, walnut) and citrus fruits (lemon, grapefruit) dominate the very dynamic end of the palate. On the retro-nasal olfaction, coconut milk, ash and aromatic plants (sage, verbena) stand out for their intensity. The empty glass is vegetal (Havana cigar) and chocolatey.

Distilled on 4th October 1984, this version will blow you away with its complexity, presence and generosity. The breadth and depth of this Glenlossie's palette of aromas and flavours are quite simply extraordinary.

The concentrated initial nose is roasted (coffee), fruity (black grape) and chocolate. Initially mineral, it gradually becomes medicinal (camphor). The elegant attack pays tribute to malted barley. The mid-palate is a real sweet treat (strawberry cream cake). The silky finish wavers between aromatic plants and autumn shades (chestnut). The retronasal olfaction is mentholated .

One of only 530 bottles available worldwide.
Cask Type: refill Sherry Butt
Cask No: 2533
Distilled: 4th October 1984
Bottled: 27th July 2018

THIS ITEM WILL SHIP FROM OUR OTHER WAREHOUSE.