Independent bottlers

Blended Scotch whisky constitutes over 90% of the whisky produced in Scotland. Blended Scotch whiskies contain both malt whisky and grain whisky. They were initially created as an alternative to single malt whiskies which were considered by some to be too harsh. Master blenders combine the various malts and grain whiskies to produce a consistent “brand style”. Notable blended Scotch whisky brands include Dewar’s, Johnnie Walker, Cutty Sark, J&B, The Famous Grouse, and Chivas Regal.

Most malt distilleries sell a significant amount of whisky by the cask for blending, and sometimes to private buyers as well. Whisky from such casks is sometimes bottled as a single malt by independent firms such as Duncan Taylor, Gordon & MacPhail, Cadenhead, Murray McDavid, Signatory, and others. These are usually labelled with the distillery’s name, but not using the distillery’s trademarked logos or typefaces. An “official bottling” (or “proprietary bottling”), by comparison, is one from the distillery (or its owner). Many independent bottlings are from single casks, and they may sometimes be very different from an official bottling. There have been occasional efforts by distillers to curtail independent bottling; Allied Domecq, a former owner of the Laphroaig distillery, initiated legal action against Murray McDavid in an effort to prevent them from using “Distilled at Laphroaig Distillery” in their independent bottlings of said whisky.[6] Murray McDavid subsequently used the name “Leapfrog” for a time, before Allied backed off.

William Grant & Sons, which owns three malt distilleries, adds a measure of one of its other distilleries’ whisky to each cask of malt it sells to independent bottlers.[citation needed] This prevents independent bottlers from bottling the contents of the cask as a single malt. To avoid potentially sticky legal issues, some independent bottlings do not reveal the distillery of the whisky, using a manufactured brand name or a geographical name instead such as Old St Andrews.

History
Greybeard Heather Dew scotch whisky jug

“To Friar John Cor, by order of the King, to make aqua vitae VIII bolls of malt.” — Exchequer Rolls 1494–95, vol x, p. 487. Whisky has been produced in Scotland for hundreds of years. According to the Scotch Whisky Association, no one knows exactly when the art of distilling was first practised in Scotland; it is known that the Ancient Celts practised distilling, and that the liquid they produced—uisge beatha (“water of life”)—evolved into Scotch Whisky. The first taxes on whisky production were imposed in 1644, causing a rise in illicit whisky distilling in the country. Around 1780, there were about 8 legal distilleries and 400 illegal ones. In 1823, Parliament eased restrictions on licensed distilleries with the “Excise Act”, while at the same time making it harder for the illegal stills to operate, thereby ushering in the modern era of Scotch production. Two events helped the increase of whisky’s popularity: first, a new production process was introduced in 1831 called Coffey or Patent Still (see in section below); the whisky produced with this process was less intense and smoother. Second, the Phylloxera bug destroyed wine and cognac production in France in 1880.

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