Five Single Cask Indie Bottlings | Various ABV

I did not buy any of these.

Though I might yet.

As far as indies go, the general rule here at Dramface is that we like them a lot, and we welcome them wholeheartedly. They offer us often unique or at least ‘one off’ impressions of what a distillery can do, and while there’s always an off chance that a whisky released by an indie can just as easily be hit or miss, these days the occasional dud will likely be exactly that - occasional.

Now and then, we have the opportunity to share with you an entire outturn, or close to it. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, it’s timely and there’s still some stock around. We hope that’s useful and helps some of you in your exploration. It’s not a sales pitch though, and our content is never scheduled as such. We’re just as happy sharing whatever is inspired by a long sold-out single cask Auchenshuggle as we are something contemporary and available for sale. At point of writing, we do not offer affiliate links. Our only obligation is to you and good whisky.

I mention this for a reason.

Dràm Mòr is a family owned and run ‘small scale’ company, especially in comparison to the likes of Gordon & Macphail, Cadenheads and Signatory, makes regular appearances here and their 16yo Inchfad from last year was one of my whisky highlights of 2023. As per our previous outturn reviews, these samples were provided to me through Dràm Mòr.

Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Kenny and Viktorija MacDonald on multiple occasions, and some may argue that this makes it harder to keep things completely objective all of the time. Being sympathetic towards someone, or something, implies you want to be nice about what they do - it’s what makes us human.

The challenge is that when they're putting products out that they intend to sell to you and me; we, as reviewers - but also us as customers - need to make abstractions of any personal relationships we might have. We must focus solely on the actual product. I feel as if most people working in the industry understand this very well and are absolutely fine with some fair criticism, as long as you justify why something isn’t to your liking.

Prior to making unsolicited remarks on whisky, I’ve spent almost twenty years doing something similar with music; reviewing albums and interviewing musicians. Basically, the same stuff applies. The personal relationships you built over the years with, if not actual musicians, then with folk working in the industry, such as label people, A&R folk and venue hosts, won’t stand in the way of you giving an objective remark about the albums and artists they are trying to sell. The vast majority of them understand how and why there’s a difference in the people working for the media, what they write and why they write it.

Especially if they understand where you’re coming from, they’ll respect the passion and engagement, and, ugly word loading, the ‘authority’ with which you write about something. Just in the same way most reviewers will understand and respect all the hard work that comes into play when producing something and putting it out there. Be it music, or bottles of booze.

So, as much as I care for and sympathise with Kenny and Viktorija, I will always review anything that crosses my path, freebie or not, with one thing and one thing only on my mind: would I like to go out and buy a full bottle? That’s the prime indicator, enabling me to assess and review these samples with as little bias as possible.

As you may know, Dràm Mòr tends to release three to four ‘batches’ per year, usually seasonal, and each release will be a series of single cask bottlings. So, needless to say, availability is limited to a few hundred bottles on each occasion. The Spring 2024 release we have here gave us six bottlings, of which I have five. For some reason these arrive sans Jura 9yo. Although I notice the ABV was low on that one at 46%, perhaps it was a pretty low bottle outturn on that one too?

Anyway, with five in front of me I’ve still got quite a bit of reviewing to do.

Review 1/5

Pitilie (Aberfeldy) 9yo, First-fill Buffalo Trace cask finish, 240 bottle outturn, 54.8% ABV
£60-65 and still available

Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*A pleasant and playful alt-take on Aberfeldy*

Nose

Sweet and sour and slightly acidic at first – a combo of sweet notes with grassy and vegetal elements. I associate Aberfeldy with lots and lots of orange and citrus notes and while they’re here too, they’re keeping a bit of a low profile at first. Only after 10-15 minutes do those signature citrus notes become more obvious, joined in by some sweetness from vanilla and sugar and stone fruit. All the while that vegetal element is there, which adds some depth and complexity to things.

Palate

Pleasant on the arrival – peppery and salty, with some sweetness from honey and citrus (oranges). The mouthfeel is quite dense and viscous. Add water and things ‘mellow out’ a bit, and I’m picking up a lactic note I couldn’t really find before, before this goes into a grassy, salty, drying finish.

The Dregs

Very pleasant sipping whisky. Nice, youthful and still quite some spirit character, but particularly the vegetal, salty notes are showing me a side to Aberfeldy I’ve never encountered before. A nice discovery for sure.

Score: 6/10

Review 2/5

Benrinnes 10yo, Re-fill Palo Cortado hogshead finish, 221 bottle outturn, 54.3% ABV
£70-75 and still available

Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*Benrinnes is always interesting, as proven here*

Nose

Oily, cheeses and umami notes. There’s a hint of wine with grapes and raisins sitting alongside something buttery. More red fruits, with strawberry this time and sweet almonds. Some syrup and caramel add density. There’s quite a lot going on, but it’s all easy going and delivered quietly.

Palate

Warm and full arrival with dark and dried fruit – blueberry and blackcurrant. Again that caramel and syrup note with a medium full mouthfeel and a nice texture with a woody, umami-driven lingering finish.

The Dregs

Overall on the palate it delivers less flavours and complexity than the nose promised, but that’s compensated with a very warming and very pleasant sipping experience. Benrinnes rarely disappoints in my book as it’s almost always an ‘interesting’ whisky at the very least. This is good and enjoyable, and if the palate was on par with the nose, it would merit a point more I reckon. In any case, this might not be a Benrinnes in its most complex form, but the combo of the spirit and the Palo Cortado cask makes this a well-balanced, lovely, warming drop.

Score: 6/10

Review 3/5

Tomintoul 13yo, First-fill PX hogshead finish, 218 bottle outturn, 56.1% ABV
£80-85 and still available

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*A beautiful, almost decadent expression from Tomintoul*

Nose

Oily! Lots of sultanas, figs and plums. Treacle and spices - cloves and even cola cubes, and chocolate covered raisins. A drop of water brings out wood polish notes mixed in with those syrup and fruit notes cranked up to full volume.

Palate

Chocolate and berries. Syrup, caramel; nutty and woody. A full, mouth-coating texture. Just like on the nose, adding water accentuates things in no small way. This time the chocolate notes shine through, but it’s again a barrage of red fruit notes that lead the way as things dive into a very clinging finish. Lovely!

The Dregs

I know Tomintoul is quite ‘big ‘ in Asian markets and it might explain why we see so little of it here in terms of official releases being presented in all its glory. And that’s an absolute pity, in my opinion. This is so very rich, so very luscious, that it’s almost decadent. By no means a sherry bomb, but there’s so much richness and flavour all sitting on a lovely, well-balanced density. A beauty!

Score: 7/10

Review 4/5

Duich (Tamdhu) 8yo, First-fill PX hogshead finish, 230 bottle outturn, 56.1% ABV
£75-80 and still available

Score: 8/10

**Something special.**
***TL;DR***
*A perfect example of a luscious, well balanced and dense whisky, a stunner*

Nose

Oh, my! This is quite something! A lovely mixture of chocolate and red fruit notes, but also something more tropical stuff like mango and banana even, alongside a fair dose of pencil shavings, cedar wood and cigar boxes joining in on the party. One word: gorgeous!

Palate

Potent full-on arrival. A blast of rich woody, spicy notes barely masquerading in the high ABV. Again, tons of chocolate, cigar boxes, sultanas and figs, which stand up nicely to a very dense and thick leathery mouthfeel. A drop of water takes off the heat, but also dials everything up to 11! What’s more, all of a sudden I’m picking up a funky vibrancy, which only adds to the overall experience. A pleasantly long lingering rich, woody finish puts the cherry on the cake.

The Dregs

We don’t often talk about Tamdhu, but I’ve rarely encountered one that disappoints. It really is a distillery that can bring us rich, full flavoured whisky goodness with plenty of depth, texture, often finding a spot on balance between spirit and cask. This one is no exception. In fact: this one has it all. Cracking stuff!

Score: 8/10

Review 5/5

Caol Ila 9yo, French oak oloroso hogshead finish, 288 bottle outturn, 55.2% ABV
£75-80 and still available

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed**
***TL;DR***
*Feisty but absolutely wonderful*

Nose

Classic peat and sherry combo to kick things off. Peat, hints of iodine and TCP and quite some coastal salinity. There’s an almost minty freshness trying to break through. Once I focus on the latter, I’m suddenly finding more herbal and spice notes of star anise, soft ginger and nutmeg, becoming more prominent after adding some water.

Palate

Prickly and peppery - the ABV makes a mark. Heavy on the peat, with dark, treacle like notes. Again, that coastal salinity shines through, with an ashy peatiness to it.With some water it becomes’ lighter’, but still very peat driven while herbal elements (some parsley, ginger and nutmeg) emerge on a dry, medium mouthfeel.

The Dregs

Throw anything at Caol Ila in terms of wood and chances are it’ll turn up just fine. This one is no exception and while I didn’t really notice much from the French oak, I did really enjoy this young, feisty stalwart from Islay.

Score: 7/10

The Final Dregs

I don’t really know how many whiskies I’ve tried from Dràm Mòr over the years, but it’s likely dozens. That doesn’t mean I’ve bought each and every one of them, but still they make very regular appearances in my cabinet. They’ve never released anything subpar in my book and I’m happy to report this spring 2024 release once more consists of quite some thrillers with absolutely no fillers.

As a small scale company they can’t afford to drop the ball, as they need to get it right every single time. Obviously not each and every single bottling will be jaw dropping stuff to every single punter, but they’ve managed to set a certain standard quality which, if anything, they regularly manage to surpass.

Yes, £65 or more for a bottle of 10 yo-ish whisky isn’t what you’d call cheap, but then again, we’re not asking for cheap, we’re asking for value for money. I’m fairly sure that most of us are more than willing to pay £60- £70 or even more for a single, good quality bottle of whisky, rather than spending the same on two that are bang average.

And that’s the customer and market segment companies like Dràm Mòr, North Star, Alistair Walker, Watt Whisky and a dozen other smaller scale indie bottlers are catering for. So far, they continue to deliver.

*All six bottles in the spring 2024 outturn - including the elusive Jura*

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. EA

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