If you’ve read any of our other posts, you’ll know that here at Whisky Foundation, we’re all about stripping away the crusty image of whisky drinking. That’s because we know that there’s a lot about whisky culture – the whisky words, the attitudes, and the elitism – that can be off-putting to the casual […]

If you’ve ever tried to introduce independent bottlings to a friend – even a friend that enjoys a dram or two – it can get a little bit complicated. You’ll probably talk of how bottlers buy whiskies from distilleries but then release them under their own labels after maturing and finishing them. You might talk […]

As you might have noticed, we love independent bottling companies here at Whisky Foundation. We’re mad about them. We love seeing new independent bottlers getting started and releasing their first expression. We love to see them bringing a new twist to a whisky that we didn’t think could get any better. And, of course, we […]

If there was ever a collection of whiskies that epitomised the independent bottling ethos, it would be The Maltman series. I mean, check out this quote from their website. If it was in Latin, it’d pretty much be the motto of the independent bottling industry: Our Maltman range, all single cask releases, is without any […]

At Whisky Foundation, we’re always writing about independent bottling, independent whisky bottlers, casks, finishing and new exciting bottlings. But we noticed recently that we’d completely forgotten to write about the most basic topic of all: what are independent whisky bottlers? So, what are independent bottlers?  OK, here’s a Spark Notes version of what independent bottlers […]

If you read our guide to the whisky regions of Scotland, you’ll know that there are tonnes of distilleries across the entirety of Caledonia. (To be precise, there’s 99. Can you name them all?) And yet, there are a select few that are always held in very high esteem, by both whisky drinkers and in […]

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of trying a cask strength whisky, then this scene from The Great Escape probably feels more than a little familiar: Cask strength whisky does not mess around. It comes straight from the cask to the bottle with no dilution whatsoever, so you’re hit with a huge whack of oaky […]

  At Whisky Foundation, we often talk of our favourite bottlings and our favourite cask-finishes. We often talk of whisky regions and whisky terms and the whisky industry in general. But, for an independent bottling site, we feel like we’ve neglected talking about independent bottlers a little. Well, that’s all about to change. From now […]

In the world of independent bottling, there’s often lots of talk about the casks, maturation and cask finishes. And that’s for good reason; the time a whisky spends in the cask (or casks) has a huge impact on the character, taste and colour. Especially when it comes to IBs, there are very few parts of […]

A few months ago, we wrote a long thought-piece that pondered two central questions: Why aren’t independent bottlings as popular as craft beer? And what can the whisky industry learn from craft beer? The question isn’t as ridiculous as it might sound, either. Beer and whisky are – until the point the liquid is distilled […]