Blackadder is an independent bottler of single malt Scotch whisky. It was founded in 1995 by Robin Tucek and John Lamond, and named after historic Scottish figure Bishop John Blackadder. The company's bottlings are generally from single casks, are neither chill-filtered nor colored, and are bottled in clear glass to allow customers to see the natural color of the whisky. [1] [2]
Bottling series offered by Blackadder include the standard single-cask single malt whiskies, the "Limited Edition" range, the sherry-cask "Old Man of Hoy", the "Auld Edinburgh" range, and two alternate labelings used in place of the Blackadder name: "Aberdeen Distillers" and "The Clydesdale Original Scotch Whisky Co. Ltd."
Since 2000, Blackadder has also offered the "Raw Cask" series, which consists of whisky bottled directly from the cask, without even mechanical filtering. The lack of filtering leaves some detritus in the bottles including fragments of cask wood.
In 2014 Blackadder introduced a range of whiskies called Black Snake. These whiskies are produced using a Solera system, where aged single malts are placed into either an Oloroso or PX Sherry cask for further aging. When deemed ready, 2/3 of the cask is drawn to be bottled and the cask is replenished with more single malt for further maturation. [3] Each draw for bottling is known as a "Venom".
Blackadder Whiskies are available in a number of countries, particularly Japan, Taiwan and Europe. In the US, Blackadder Whiskies are imported by Glass Revolution. [4]
Scotch whisky is malt whisky or grain whisky, made in Scotland.
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash or by distilling beer. Various grains are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, generally made of charred white oak.
Single malt Scotch is single malt whisky made in Scotland. To qualify for this category, a whisky must have been distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process and made from a mash of malted barley. As with any Scotch whisky, a single malt Scotch must be distilled in Scotland and matured in oak casks in Scotland for at least three years.
Single malt whisky is malt whisky from a single distillery. Single malts are typically associated with single malt Scotch, though they are also produced in various other countries. Under the United Kingdom's Scotch Whisky Regulations, a "Single Malt Scotch Whisky" must be made exclusively from malted barley, must be distilled using pot stills at a single distillery, and must be aged for at least three years in oak casks of a capacity not exceeding 700 litres. While the Scotch model is usually copied internationally, these constraints may not apply to whisky marketed as "single malt" that is produced elsewhere. For example, there is no definition of the term "single" with relation to whisky in the law of the United States, and some American whiskey advertised as "single malt whisky" is produced from malted rye rather than malted barley.
The Glenlivet distillery is a distillery near Ballindalloch in Moray, Scotland that produces single malt Scotch whisky. It is the oldest legal distillery in the parish of Glenlivet, and the production place of the Scottish whisky of the same name. It was founded in 1824 and has operated almost continuously since. The distillery remained open throughout the Great Depression and its only closure came during World War II. The Glenlivet distillery has grown in the post-war period to become one of the biggest single malt distilleries in order to keep up with global demand; The Glenlivet brand is the biggest selling single malt whisky in the United States and the second biggest selling single malt brand globally.
Bowmore is a distillery that produces Scotch whisky on the Isle of Islay, an island of the Inner Hebrides. The distillery, which lies on the South Eastern shore of Loch Indaal, is one of the oldest in Scotland and is said to have been established in 1779. The distillery is owned by Morrison Bowmore Distillers Ltd, a holding company owned by Beam Suntory, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational drinks conglomerate Suntory. Morrison Bowmore also own the Auchentoshan and Glen Garioch distilleries and produce the McClelland's Single Malt range of bottlings.
The Macallan distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Craigellachie, Moray, Scotland. The Macallan Distillers Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Edrington Group, which purchased the brand from Highland Distillers in 1999.
Glenmorangie is a distillery in Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland, that produces single malt Scotch whisky. The distillery is owned by The Glenmorangie Company Ltd, whose main product is the range of Glenmorangie single malt whisky. Glenmorangie is categorised as a Highland distillery and boasts the tallest stills in Scotland. It is available in Original, 18-, and 25-year-old bottlings, special cask bottlings, cask finishes, extra matured bottlings, and a range of special edition bottlings.
Glenfiddich is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky produced by William Grant & Sons in the Scottish burgh of Dufftown in Moray. Glenfiddich means "valley of the deer" in Scottish Gaelic, which is why the Glenfiddich logo is a stag.
Grant's is a blended Scotch whisky bottled by William Grant & Sons in Scotland.
The Balvenie distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Dufftown, Scotland, owned by William Grant & Sons.
The Springbank distillery is a family-owned single malt whisky distillery on the Kintyre Peninsula in western Scotland. It is owned by J & A Mitchell & Company, which also owns the Glengyle Distillery, the oldest independent bottler, William Cadenheads, and several blended scotch labels. Licensed in 1828, Springbank is one of the last surviving producers of single malt whiskies in Campbeltown, an area that once had over thirty active distilleries. The distillery produces three types of peated and unpeated malt whisky that it bottles under three distinct brands. The majority of its distillate is bottled as a single malt, with a small percentage sold to larger blenders or ending up in one of J&A Mitchell's own blended scotch labels, such as Campbeltown Loch.
Single barrel whiskey is a premium class of whiskey in which each bottle comes from an individual aging barrel, instead of coming from blending together the contents of various barrels to provide uniformity of color and taste. By contrast, some other whiskeys, even ones that are not blends, may be combined from more than one batch, or even from differing years to achieve consistency. The whiskey from each barrel is bottled separately, with each bottle bearing the barrel number and in most cases the dates for the beginning and end of aging. Each barrel is believed to contribute unique characteristics to the finished whiskey.
The Dalmore distillery is located in Alness, Scotland, which is 20 miles (32 km) north of Inverness. It sits on the banks of the Cromarty Firth overlooking the Black Isle, the "big meadowland", from which it takes its name.
The Glenrothes is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky. It is made at the Glenrothes distillery located in the town of Rothes in the heart of the Speyside region of Scotland. The distillery sits beside the Burn of Rothes, hidden in a glen on the edge of the town.
Redbreast is a brand of single pot still Irish Whiskey produced by Irish Distillers. It was originally produced by Gilbey's, a Dublin spirits merchant using distillate sourced from Jameson's Bow Street Distillery. In the 1980s, the brand was purchased by Irish Distillers, the producer of Jameson. It is the largest selling single pot still Irish whiskey in the world.
Murray McDavid is a bottler of Scotch whisky, offering a range from vintage single malts and grains to blended malts.
It has been common practice in the whisky industry for more than a century for distilleries to sell barrels of whisky to blenders and independent bottlers as a means of making additional income. In fact, some distilleries exist solely to serve independent bottlers, and do not market any brands themselves.
Abhainn Dearg or Red River Distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery in Uig, on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. It is the most westerly distillery in Scotland. The name is Scottish Gaelic for "Red River".
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains are used in different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, generally made of charred white oak.