Allspice

Glenrothes Vintage 1998

Glenrothes Vintage 1998

The Glenrothes has a way of categorizing their scotch that is markedly different than most other distilleries. Rather than bearing a standard age statement or name in lieu of one, the Glenrothes labels their offerings by the year in which the barrels were first laid down. The bottle details tell you when the scotch was bottled, letting you do your own math to figure out the age. The Vintage 1998 is from their Core Vintage line, though there are Reserve, Special Release, and Classic lines too.

BenRiach 16 Year

BenRiach 16 Year

The BenRiach distillery has been through some rough times since it’s founding in 1898. Unfortunately, it has been susceptible to the booms and busts of the industry over the past century and more, closing a number of times in lean years but always coming back. Even when whisky production was halted, however, some aspect of the place still functioned, even if only to product floor maltings sold to other distilleries. It has been owned by Glenlivet, Seagrams, and the BenRiach Distillery Company Ltd. before being sold to the Brown-Forman Corporation in 2016. Starting in the 60s, the distillery has expanded and evolved with each transition and each challenge. For most of its history, it was used as a component in blends and was not released as a BenRiach malt until 1994. Along with this BenRiach 16, the core line is comprised of 10 and 20 year offerings, along with a ranges featuring peat, wood finishes, and premium expressions.

Ardbeg Ardbog

Ardbeg Ardbog

One of Ardbeg’s annual Committee releases, the Ardbog was put out as a limited edition of 3000 bottles during the Islay Festival, celebrated by a worldwide Ardbog Day on June 1, 2013, before being sold more widely for a limited time. It’s name connotes the peat bogs scattered across Islay. The Ardbeg Ardbog is and remains to this day, for some of us here at Scotchology, a quintessential unicorn dram.