Glen Garioch 12 Year (Berry Brothers and Rudd "Glens & Valleys")

 

My history with Glen Garioch is a weird one: I had never had anything by them, and, in a fit of pique, I bought three 18-year old single cask offerings from three sister casks all distilled on the same day from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. 

Dalmore 12 Year (Berry Brothers and Rudd, "Coasts and Shores")

 

Every three or four months, I get together with a group of friends who have known each other since kindergarten - 40 years this September, which is mind-blowing. We tend to gather early in the morning and sip beer and spirits while reviewing our lives over the last quarter year, comparing and contrasting how life has treated us. Basically exactly what scotch whisky was invented for! 

Ben Nevis 9 Year (Mossburn / Berry Brothers and Rudd)

 

Here is an unusual case: two independent bottlers working in tandem on a single bottle! This is Mossburn partnered with Berry Brothers & Rudd, and I'm not quite sure the story, but it seems like Berry Brothers & Rudd selected the cask and then Mossburn took control of it and aged it (?). 

Lochindaal 12 Year (Berry Brothers and Rudd)

 

Few distilleries seem to get things right as much or as often as Bruichladdich these days. In an era where official distillery bottlings seem hopelessly flawed - bottled at the legal minimum, chill filtered, poor casks and too-safe spirit, and - worst of all - rising prices for all of that, Bruichladdich has gone the other direction: consistently high quality, bottling at 50%, interesting wine casks and high quality bourbon casks, no chill filtration ... what drinkers of scotch like to call "integrity presentation."