Edinburgh based independent Scotch whisky bottler, The Whisky Cellar, has unveiled a series of ten unique single casks bottled under its new Private Cellars Selection label.
With just 2,100 bottles drawn from the ten casks, the whiskies will be made available on strict allocation through a select number of retail partners.
Spearheading the launch is founder of The Whisky Cellar, Keith Bonnington, a Scotch Whisky industry executive with 18 years’ experience.
Each of the ten casks – a mixture of barrels, hogsheads, butts and a quarter cask – were carefully selected by an expert panel of assessors to offer “a taste profile for everyone” within the range.
“We have selected across a broad spectrum of styles, age references and price points, some from well-known distilleries, others from lesser-heralded or even unnamed” Keith Bonnington
“I believe that there’s a whisky out there for every palate and our ethos is to make Scotch enjoyable for all, opening up possibilities to try an expanse of flavours within each of our series’.”
The bottles, which include a 1997 rum cask finish from the BenRiach distillery, a 1995 hogshead from Glenallachie and a 1984 Single Grain from Cameronbridge distillery, range from recommended retail prices of £50 to £185.
“We are a flavour diversity driven bottler and our core message is that, if we love the spirit enough, we will bottle it, irrespective of age, region, cask type or style. We want to bring to market extremely high quality one-off whiskies which represent good value to the consumer.”
Within each series, the assessors will select a cask from a particular region – one which they believe captures the essence of that region – and bottle it unnamed and at 40-43% alcohol by volume as ‘House Malt’. Bonnington describes this as “good, signature single cask malt whisky at an accessible price.”
The ‘House Malt’ within the first series is a 15-year old single cask from a renowned and popular Speyside distillery retailing at £50 per bottle. Bonnington hopes to build The Whisky Cellar’s following and become one of the foremost independent bottlers for flavour exploration.
“Our series’ 2 and 3 casks are lying patiently in our warehouse, some recently re-racked while we explore finishing – that final period of maturation – in port wood, French wine barriques and Oloroso sherry quarter casks.”
The whiskies are available from select retailers in the UK and some export markets including Italy, Germany and Taiwan.
Additional Company Information:
The Whisky Cellar Ltd was formed in November 2016 and incorporated in Edinburgh by drinks industry professional, Keith Bonnington, previously with leading independent Scotch Whisky producer, Edrington.
The company released its first super-premium label Whisky Illuminati in 2018 with the inaugural ‘Candlelight Series’, followed up by its ‘Solaria Series’ and ‘Alba Series’ in 2019.
The Whisky Cellar: Private Cellars Selection label is designed to offer a broader range of casks to a wider audience including whiskies and, possibly in the future, other premium dark spirits from around the world.
The Whisky Cellar sources, assesses and selects Single Casks of Scotch whisky from its base in Edinburgh, based on their ethos: “if we love it, we will bottle it”.
Their first release of ten casks includes:
| CASK # | TYPE | PRODUCT DETAIL |
| 801024 | SINGLE MALT | ARDMORE 2006 – 14 YEARS OLD 58.9% |
| R2016/9348 – No.4 | SINGLE MALT | BENRIACH RUM FINISH 1997 – 22 YEARS OLD 57.1% |
| 3028694 | SINGLE GRAIN | CAMERONBRIDGE 1984 – 36 YEARS OLD 53.6% |
| 7849 | SINGLE MALT | GLEN MORAY 1996 – 23 YEARS OLD 55.5% |
| 10 | SINGLE MALT | GLENALLACHIE 1995 – 24 YEARS OLD 56.5% |
| 18278 | SINGLE GRAIN | INVERGORDON 1996 – 24 YEARS OLD 48.6% |
| 14 | SINGLE MALT | ROYAL BRACKLA 2013 – 7 YEARS OLD 56.8% |
| 70296 | SINGLE MALT | TEANINICH 2007 – 12 YEARS OLD 58.2% |
| 800075 | BLENDED MALT | WESTPORT* 1999 – 21 YEARS OLD 43.8% |
| n/a | SINGLE MALT | “HOUSE MALT” 2004 – SPEYSIDE 15 YEARS OLD 40% |
Note: the information on this blog post has been provided by Keith Bonnington.
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