THE WHISKY CELLAR TOASTS PERFECT TEN ‘PRIVATE CELLARS SELECTION’ SINGLE CASK LAUNCH

September 2020

Edinburgh based independent Scotch whisky bottler, The Whisky Cellar, has unveiled a series of ten unique single casks bottled under its new Private Cellars Selection label.

With just 2,100 bottles drawn from the ten casks, the whiskies will be made available on strict allocation through a select number of retail partners.

Spearheading the launch is founder of The Whisky Cellar, Keith Bonnington, a Scotch Whisky industry executive with 18 years’ experience.

Each of the ten casks – a mixture of barrels, hogsheads, butts and a quarter cask – were carefully selected by an expert panel of assessors to offer “a taste profile for everyone” within the range.

“We have selected across a broad spectrum of styles, age references and price points, some from well-known distilleries, others from lesser-heralded or even unnamed” stated Bonnington.

“I believe that there’s a whisky out there for every palate and our ethos is to make Scotch enjoyable for all, opening up possibilities to try an expanse of flavours within each of our series’.”

The bottles, which include a 1997 rum cask finish from the BenRiach distillery, a 1995 hogshead from Glenallachie and a 1984 Single Grain from Cameronbridge distillery, range from recommended retail prices of £50 to £185.

“We are a flavour diversity driven bottler and our core message is that, if we love the spirit enough, we will bottle it, irrespective of age, region, cask type or style. We want to bring to market extremely high quality one-off whiskies which represent good value to the consumer.”

Within each series, the assessors will select a cask from a particular region – one which they believe captures the essence of that region – and bottle it unnamed and at 40-43% alcohol by volume as ‘House Malt’. Bonnington describes this as “good, signature single cask malt whisky at an accessible price.”

The ‘House Malt’ within the first series is a 15-year old single cask from a renowned and popular Speyside distillery retailing at £50 per bottle.

Bonnington hopes to build The Whisky Cellar’s following and become one of the foremost independent bottlers for flavour exploration.

“Our series’ 2 and 3 casks are lying patiently in our warehouse, some recently re-racked while we explore finishing – that final period of maturation – in port wood, French wine barriques and Oloroso sherry quarter casks.”

The whiskies are available from select retailers in the UK and some export markets including Italy, Germany and Taiwan.