Everyone has heard of huge brands like Macallan, The Glenlivet, and Johnnie Walker. They make fantastic whisky, but sometimes you want to branch off the mainstream and check out some of the smaller brands so we here at Love Scotch put together a list of 5 of our favorite smaller/independent Scotches.
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5 - Edradour 'Ballechin' 10 Year Old $84.99Edradour was founded in 1825 and is affectionately called “Scotland's Little Gem” as it is (or used to be) the smallest distillery in Scotland. This distillery, located in Pitlochry, produces 90,000 liters of spirit per year. They have two product lines, Edradour, which is unpeated, and Ballechin, which is peated. The majority of the Edradour releases are aged in Sherry, and some are finished in unique wine casks. |
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4 - Glengoyne 12 Year $67.99An excellent Highland distillery, Glengoyne is proud to boast that they have the slowest stills in Scotland. Their slow distillation process makes for a full-bodied spirit. Pair that with their use of Sherry casks and this is a delicious and meaty sipper for under $70! |
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3 - Ardnamurchan $83.99The Loch Katrine Adelphi distillery was initially built in 1826 and was Adelphi's first foray into whisky-making. That distillery was demolished in 1971. Shortly thereafter in 1984, the Glasgow Central Mosque was built on that same site. Fast forward to 2012 and Adelphi was granted planning permission for a distillery approximately 40 miles to the northeast of the original site. In 2013, they broke ground on the Adelphi distillery, and in 2020, AD 09.20:01, the first bottling of Ardnamurchan Single Malt Scotch was released using a 50:50 split of unpeated & peated whisky, matured in ex-Bourbon and Sherry casks. |
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2 - Glasgow 1770 The Original $69.99Another newer brand to market, distilled right near the Glasgow Central Mosque, at the Glasgow Distillery Co. GDC makes three distinct styles of whisky: double distilled with unpeated malted barley, double distilled with peated malted barley, and then triple distilled with unpeated malted barley. |
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1. Wolfburn Morven $87.99Wolfburn is the northernmost distillery on the Scottish Mainland! Located in Thurso, Wolfburn produces peated and unpeated Scotch whisky. Wolfburn doesn't get much attention here in the US as a lot of their unique and fun single cask bottlings don't make it outside of Scotland. The Wolfburn Morven is a lightly peated Single Malt Scotch Whisky with an undisclosed age statement. The name Morven comes from the highest point in Caithness, Scotland. |
