From Warehouse no. 8 issue of Claxton's Single Cask: Glenrothes 2009. Matured for 11 years in a Madeira Wine Octave, a small cask that provides extra wood influence. Distilled in Speyside and bottled at 58.1%. A whisky in the luxury decanter of the Single Cask series as we know it.
Glenrothes Distillery is located south of the town of Rothes, where Speyburn, Glen Spey, Glen Grant and formerly Caperdonich also produce whisky. Today, the former Caperdonich site is occupied by the firm of Forsyths who make the stills for the entire industry. The Burn of Rothes, which originated in the Mannoch Hills, runs through the distillery site and roughly translates as "meeting the water". However, water for production is piped in from the Lady's Well and there are now five wash stills and five spirit stills in the Glenrothes stillhouse, also known as the Cathedral. Twenty washbacks are made of Oregon pine, and by slow distillation 5.6 million litres of alcohol per year is obtained. For maturation, both refill and ex-bourbon casks are used, but mainly sherry casks. For the repair of the barrels, they have their own cooperage, where barrels are also made for others from the Edrington group. Across the road is the churchyard so there are spirits on two sides of the road. Byeway is said to have shown himself in the stillhouse after his death, which is why a special bottling is now released for Halloween.
If we go back in history to the Hart family, we find that they had a licence to sell liquor as early as the late 19th century. The family then owned an inn in Paisley. Brothers Iain and Donald Hart turned the business around in 1964 and concentrated on selling wine and spirits and blending Scotch whisky.
They are experts in finding and bottling the best Scotch whisky, maturing it in the highest quality oak casks and choosing the perfect time to bottle it. No colouring is used, no cold filtration is used and the bottlings are at cask strength or 46%. For the 46% bottlings, only the purest Scottish spring water is used to bring the whisky to strength. Everything is pure and focused on the best taste and quality.
Alistair Hart began his career in the whisky industry in 1962 as a novice whisky blender with Whyte & Mackay Limited. He was supervised by Major Hartley Whyte and in 1972 was promoted to Director and held the position of Chief Blender. In 1975, Alistair left Whyte & Mackay to join his brothers at Hart Brothers, building the global reputation the company now enjoys. He took with him good contacts in the whisky industry, which still results in exceptional bottlings that you rarely see in the competition, such as Talisker, Glendronach, Dalmore and Littlemill.
In doing so, they adhere to Hart Brothers' motto: The Spirit of Excellence.
Started in 1994 by Mark Reynier, Simon Coughlin and Gordon Wright and since 2000 also owners of Bruichladdich, which was sold in 2012. Aceo ltd. bought Murray McDavid in 2013 and a year later, the home on the site of the former Coleburn distillery in the heart of Speyside. One of the first companies to use a variety of interesting casks to complete the maturation process to perfection. Coleburn's traditional Victorian dunnage warehouses hold thousands of casks of whisky from over ninety different distilleries. They bottle only the best in six different categories:
All whiskies are carefully selected to emphasise the art of maturation and blending.
James Eadie built a whisky empire from a set of breweries in Burton-on-Trent which he expanded to a chain of 300 pubs and was the creator of the premium blend with the first trademark in whisky: Trademark X.
RupertPatrick, great-great-grandson of James, revived the label in 2016 (including the Trademark X) that was started by his great-great-grandfather on his mother's side with a brewery and bottling plant nearGleneagles in 1854 and which was sold to Bass in 1933.
As an ex-Diageo sales director, Rupert is grateful for the opportunity to use his good contacts and network to buy a select range of very tasty single malts from distilleries in the Diageo portfolio. The bottlings include the Small Batch single malt range, an amalgamation of two or three casks bottled at 46%, with the name of one of the former pubs highlighted on the label with an artistic image created by Annabel Pope.
The Single Cask range is bottled at cask strength, as are the Cask Finish with special additional maturation in a second cask, and finally there are the Single Grain bottlings. All these expressions are not cold filtered or coloured.
Claxton's, situated on the Dalswinston private estate just north of Dumfries, spans several traditional dunnage warehouses both for its own storage and for third parties, as well as a bottling line. Illustrious visitors to the estate include Robert the Bruce and Robert Burns and it is now a holiday accommodation where you can enjoy hunting, fishing and of course Scotch whisky.
The family business has a clear vision in which the balance between the influence of the cask and the quality of the spirit is always paramount. Claxton's elevates value, quality and flavour above all else and the family has been passionate about independently bottled single malt whisky for decades before finally fulfilling their dream in 2015 with the release of their own casks. Released in two ranges to delight enthusiasts: Claxton's Single Caskbottled at cask strength in the beautiful decanters, and Claxton's Exploration Series bottled at 50% with the unique coinage system.
Valinch & Mallet is a young Italian independent bottler of single cask and single malts at cask strength, non chill filtered and without added colourings.
Two friends with different backgrounds, united by the common passion for whisky and the desire to make it a profession and share the fruits of it with everyone. That is how Valinch & Mallet came to be.
When you add to this mix the Italian innate love of art and craft, and the heritage left behind by the extraordinary selectors who have forever linked Italy to Scotland and Scotch Whisky, a clearer picture begins to emerge.
Aceo Spirits was founded in 1999 and owns several brands such as The Smoky Scot, The Glenlee as well as bottler Murray McDavid.
