Caramel

Kingsbarns Doocot

Kingsbarns Doocot

Kingsbarns was founded in 2014 by Douglas Clement and is currently owned by independent bottler Weymss Malts, which purchased it in 2022. The placement of the distillery in the Lowland region, where there have been remarkably few active distilleries in the 21st century, was purportedly done to help provide comfort to golfers at the nearby famous courses around St. Andrew’s. The first whisky launched in 2018 and after a number of limited in development expressions, a limited core range emerged. The Kingsbarns Doocot is their flagship release and is the Scottish word for the dovecot that sits at the center of the distillery. It is a blend of whiskies matured in (90%) ex-bourbon and (10%) ex-Portuguese red wine barriques that have been shaved, toasted and re-charred (STR), both first-fill.

Glenmorangie 13 Year Cognac Finish

Glenmorangie 13 Year Cognac Finish

Glenmorangie was founded in 1843 and has gone through numerous permutations over time. Boasting the tallest stills in Scotland, they produce 6.5 million liters of single malt whisky a year fed from the nearby Tarlogie Springs. For the past few decades, Glenmorangie has also been one of the best selling single malts in Scotland itself and expanded into the luxury international market, driven by cask finishing started in the 1980s. This history of cask management is evident in the “Barrel Select Release” Series, where this Glenmorangie 13 Year Cognac Finish was released in 2021. A little different than many finishes that occur at the very end of maturation (hence the term “finishing”), the initial maturation in ex-bourbon casks lasted 8 years before being transferred to ex-Cognac casks that had been used already several times for the remaining years.

Springbank 15 Year

Springbank 15 Year

Springbank was founded in 1828 and for nearly 200 years has been producing whisky with involvement from the Mitchell family over five generations. In that time, and to the current day, Springbank is one of the few scotch distilleries producing 100% of the process on site, of a sorts. Springbank is one of the only survivors from when Campbeltown was a roaring center of whisky production to the lean times when there were almost none to leading the charge at the dawn of the 21st century to get Campbeltown recognized as a distinct scotch region. In the past couple of decades, Campbeltown has seen a resurgence of interest and popularity and the Springbank releases in particular have become sought after much in the same fashion as some American bourbons like Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, and others. The Springbank 15 has been aged in ex-sherry casks, purportedly from Miguel Martin in Jerez, Spain.