Independent Bottlers

Before the 1970s it was highly uncommon for Scotch distilleries to bottle their whisky as single malts and sell them to the public. Both then and now, the vast majority (+ 90%) of whisky produced by distilleries goes into making blends such as Johnnie Walker, Famous Grouse, Bells, etc. Within the last 40 years, however, the appreciation and demand for single malts has grown and continues to do so. (Thank goodness!)

Distilleries need to, want to, and have to, sell as much as whisky as possible. They of course go about this in different ways, positioning themselves differently for various target markets, but the bottom line is they need to sell whisky in order to stay in business.

Distilleries have two business options, most of which pursue both:

1) Sell your whisky en bulk to a blending company (should there be a demand for it). This approach is lower risk for distilleries. It guarantees large quantities of their spirit will be bought, the downside is the profit margins on a cask will be lower.

2) The second option is for the distillery to bottle and sell their whisky themselves – commonly referred to as original or distillery bottlings. This will result in higher margins per cask, but comes at a higher risk as it is very hard to predict the demand for single malt, and the market is significantly smaller than that of blended whisky.

What many individuals new to the world of Scotch whisky do not know, is that there is a third option, The Independent Bottlers (IBs):

3) IBs are smaller companies that buy casks directly from the distilleries and bottle it themselves. These bottles will bare a different logo and label, however, they will often specify the original distillery as well as additional details such as the cask number and distillation date. This option allows the distillery to sell whole casks but still make a decent profit per cask, not as good as selling their own bottled whisky, but definitely cheaper and more profitable than selling hundreds of casks to a blending company.

The primary advantage of IBs is their greater degree of flexibility when compared to distilleries and blenders, and this translates directly into a greater selection of whisky on offer to Scotch drinkers. When compared to the original distillery releases, IBs offer whiskies at uncommon ages, in unusual casks and/or finishes, and at different alcohol by volume (ABV) strengths. As IBs buy by-the-cask, many of them produce their ranges from a single cask, providing the opportunity to taste the spirit and the affect of the wood more clearly, as well as offer the buyer a numbered bottle from a limited release.

In most cases, IBs also offer very good value for money with prices that compete even with the original distillery bottlings. Another benefit is that the IBs have different distribution networks and thus you may find a single malt whisky from a distillery that doesn’t sell its original bottlings in your area. (For instance I recently bought and/or tried independent bottlings of Ben Nevis, Glendullan, Glenlossie and Mortlach, yet I have never seen original bottlings from these distilleries in South Africa.)

When I first got serious about Scotch and encountered Independent Bottlings I was quite upset. At first I thought it was a bit of a cheek that some other company would bottle the whisky from distilleries and put their own label on it. Did the distilleries know this was happening?! I couldn’t understand why a distillery would allow it. With time though I’ve come to understand, appreciate, and taste the benefits of IBs, and if you haven’t, perhaps you will now. After all, the oldest Independent Bottler, Cadenhead, dates back to 1842; a tradition that old can’t be all that bad! (See here for a list of IBs.)

The only IBs I’ve seen in Johannesburg are Old Malt Cask, Provenance, Murray McDavid and Single & Single. Last year’s WhiskyLive festival also had some Duncan Taylor bottles. Try Picardi Rebel in Sandton, the best range I’ve found so far.

Disclaimer: This post is directed to newer discoverers to the world of single malt whisky, and as such I have consciously omitted some finer details of Independent Bottlers. Feel free to post any thoughts or questions as a comment.