
This is the story of a bunch of whisky geeks realising their dreams. We're just a bunch of guys who enjoy drinking Scotch whisky, Japanese whisky, bourbon, and a whole host of other international whiskies. But our real focus always comes back to Scotland and Scotch whisky.
For years, we've tried drams from the Highlands, Lowlands, Speyside, Campbeltown, Islay, and the Islands. We've enjoyed peated whiskies, unpeated whiskies, whiskies finished in sherry casks, wine casks, and brandy casks, to name just a few, and single malts, single grains, and blended whiskies produced by distilleries from all over Scotland.
One day, we decided to create our own independent bottling company. For those new to whisky, an 'Indy Bottler' produces different bottles of whisky for distilleries. They operate on a much smaller scale but have much more creative license to produce unique spirits due to their much more flexibility than distillers.
For example UK alcohol giant Diageo, the powerhouse behind the world's favourite whisky brand, Johnnie Walker own twenty-nine Scottish distilleries currently! But most of their whisky goes into their blended whisky products. Only ten percent or so of whisky produced in Scotland is sold as single-malt Scotch whisky.
While Diageo does release single malt Scotch from many of its distilleries, such as Blair Athol, Benrinnes, Caol Ila, Linkwood, and Mannochmore, these bottles are all watered down to 43% ABV. They don't release full-fat, cask-strength versions of these whiskies, giving whisky fans little chance of trying them as they are straight from the cask.
It's a very similar story with many other distilleries, particularly those owned by large conglomerates that are more focused on profit than taste.
And here is where the indy bottlers can step in. They can buy casks from distilleries and then bottle them with almost unlimited options producing their own unique expressions. They're the artists of the whisky world.
Firstly, whereas a distillery is likely to bottle at traditional milestone ages such as 10, 12, 15, 18- and 21-year-old expressions, we now see indies bottling at 9, 13, and 17 years of age as they have deemed their cask ready to bottle after sampling it.
Next, they often bottle at natural cask strength. Legally, Scotch whisky needs to be bottled at an ABV of 40% or higher, and this is why we see so many entry-level whisky bottles sold at this strength. The whisky has been watered down! Indies are free to bottle their casks without water or to add just a small amount if deemed suitable.
Then there's the wood. As you know, when whisky is distilled, it is a clear spirit. It takes its colour and flavour from the wood in which it is filled. The vast majority of whisky is filled into ex-bourbon barrels and hogsheads. Indies have the flexibility to mature their whisky into bourbon, red wine, sherry, brandy, or even tequila barrels!
Many also choose not to chill filter their products as not to add colouring, so the whisky enthusiast knows they are getting a premium product. A whisky of integrity if you like. And that is how we chose our name!
We wanted to create and offer unique whisky expressions. Premium products with unique qualities etc.
Our bottles will come from Scotch originally distilled at a respected Scottish distillery; it won't be chill filtered as we don't want to reduce the flavour. We won't be adding caramel colouring, we'll let the wood do the work. They will be small batch, single cask offerings bottled at cask strength.
And on September 30th, 2024, our journey really got underway.
We had already purchased a nine-year-old Ardmore hogshead and an eleven-year-old Royal Brackla hogshead, too, with plans to work our magic with them. In addition to these two hogsheads, we'd also ordered four small quarter casks. A typical hogshead, or 'hoggie' as we call them, holds 250 liters of bulk liquid. A smaller quarter cask holds 125 liters of bulk liquid. So, as you've probably just realised, we were going to split two large casks into four smaller ones.
Ardmore is a unique distillery nestled in Scotland's glorious Highlands. It is unique in the fact that it is the only distillery in the Highlands that produces a peated whisky. We've chosen to create two expressions from this cask by reracking the spirit into one Pedro Ximenez sherry cask. Pedro Ximenez, or 'PX' as we refer to them, adds a deep, more complex flavour consisting of dark chocolate and dried fruit such as figs, raisins, and dates, amongst others.
The other Ardmore quarter cask is an ex-Laphroaig cask previously used to store this legendary Islay Scotch. The resulting whisky will be a peated expression from the highlands that has had a gentle kiss form Islay adding smoke, spice, salt and a touch of liquorice.
On the same day, we started working on our Royal Brackla hogshead. The liquid from this eleven-year-old cask was removed and refilled into one Pedro Ximenez and one Oloroso sherry cask.
Royal Brackla is a highly respected distillery also situated in the Highlands. It is famous for being the first Scottish whisky distillery to ever receive a coveted royal warrant in 1833.
Royal Brackla do release an Oloroso finished twelve-year-old expression currently. But it has been watered down and is not a cask-strength bottling. We wanted to offer a full-fat version of this whisky. And as small quarter casks increase the surface area of wood to spirit ratio, our cask will pick up plenty of flavours that Oloroso sherried whiskies are famed for such as chocolate, nuts, and molasses.
Our second Royal Brackla expression will be finished in a Pedro Ximenez quarter cask, which will give it a great, dark colour and familiar PX flavours. Royal Brackla does not currently offer a PX expression, and as their whiskies are particularly well suited for sherry finishing, we thought we'd fill a gap. We are particularly looking forward to tracking this one's progress.
We estimate the finishing process of these whiskies will take no longer than 12 months before they are ready to be bottled. And very soon, we'll be able to show you how you'll be able to pre-order our Integrity Malts bottle online. We'll be tracking progress by sampling every two or three months, carefully monitoring the colour, aroma, and flavour. We will, of course, keep you all updated...
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