Ghost Stories: A Pair Of "New" Whiskies From Long-Gone Distilleries

Indie bottlers have some pretty rare whisky AND some pretty nice packaging. (Pic courtesy Duncan Taylor)

In the States, independent bottlers aren’t really a thing. There are non-distiller producers, which source spirits from various distilleries and then bottle and market the stuff as their own. Quite often they’ll make up stories about what’s in the bottle, most notoriously in the case of Templeton Rye, which purported to be made in Iowa (it wasn’t) and was said to be Al Capone’s whiskey of choice during Prohibition (it wasn’t). In the UK, however, independent bottlers serve a much different purpose. The bigger and better ones have been in business for decades. They’ve sourced their booze from some of Scotland’s finest distilleries and mention names on the bottles. They don’t make up stories about what they’re bottling because they don’t need to — their holdings are often more impressive than those of the distilleries themselves.

Case in point — this pair of single malts from renowned indie bottler Duncan Taylor, sourced from distilleries that closed decades ago and weren’t well known even when they were active. Spectacularly rare and pretty damn tasty, they’re testaments to the foresight of the indies, who are willing to wait as long as it takes for the time and the whisky to be right for releasing. So what the hell are Kinclaith and Caperdonich, and why do each of the bottles run for about $15,000 apiece? Click on the link right -> HERE <- and read all about ‘em in my latest for Alcohol Professor!