What is an Independent Bottler?
Independent Bottlers play an important role in the Scotch Whisky Industry.
Nowadays, consumers are searching for rare, specialist whiskies to satisfy
their thirst for knowledge about the fascinating world of Scotch
Whisky and this is where these companies come into their own.
Independent
bottlers can offer a fantastic range of Scotch whiskies and through
acquiring a number of whisky casks, sometimes from distilleries
that are currently 'mothballed' or have
been completely dismantled
they are preventing certain fine Scotch whiskies from disappearing
altogether. The casks will be matured by the Independent Bottler
as they see fit, bottled and presented under their own particular
label.
Some Independent Bottlers specialize in producing limited editions of
rare, premium single malt whiskies from specially selected
casks (from brokers or direct from the distillery). Such whiskies are
attractive to the real whisky connoisseur as an opportunity to sample
a rare vintage, or a whisky from their favourite distillery that
has been matured in a different type of cask or bottled at a different
age from the normal standard production.
An
increase in demand for more specialist whiskies has seen various
independent bottlers extend their range to offer 'Cask Strength
Whiskies'. Proprietary whiskies are normally bottled at 40% vol,
'cask strength' means that no water has been added to the whisky
prior to bottling and therefore the whisky may be over 50% vol.
Other attractive bottling features may include 'NO chill filtering
or colouring'.
It
is clear that Independent Bottlers offer a vital service to discerning
whisky connoisseurs all over the world.
List of independent bottlers
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