Speyside

This 9-year-old Glenallachie is part of the Benchmark series from independent bottler Murray McDavid. Benchmark is the true centrepiece of the range, offering small batches of distinctive, carefully matured Single Malt whiskies. These unique, limited edition bottlings showcase a variety of styles and have a wide range of interesting and intriguing flavours. The Glenallachie has been matured for almost a decade in an Oloroso hogshead. Bottled at cask strength without the addition of colour or chill-filtering exclusively for the German market. The elegant packaging and label of this bottling shine in a fresh colour scheme of silver and green tones.

This Glenallachie is part of Duncan Taylor's Octave range. In this series, the independent bottler experiments with the influence of cask size on maturation. At around 50 litres, Octave casks are only a fraction of the size of standard cask types. As a result, the whisky has more contact with the surface of the cask and matures more intensively. This Glenallachie was bottled exclusively for Whisky.de and matured for 14 years in oak casks. It was then finished for nine months in an octave cask, which was made from a former sherry cask.

This Macallan represents the typical combination of oak and spirit for which the distillery has been known since its foundation in 1824.

This 14-year-old Dailuaine single malt is part of The Maltman series from Meadowside Blending. Matured in a single refill sherry butt, the whisky is neither chill-filtered nor coloured in the slim bottles with the iconic black labels. The independent bottler Meadowside Blending is based in Glasgow and fills special single casks from Scotland's renowned distilleries and has already won several awards for its creations.

This 18-year-old Balvenie was first matured in American oak casks and then refined in Pedro Ximenéz sherry butts.

This Balmenach Strictly Limited belongs to the Càrn Mòr series of the independent bottler Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers. The Single Malt was matured for 10 years in First Fill and Refill Oloroso Sherry casks before it was bottled in 2023 in limited form, not chill-filtered and in its natural colour.

The Caperdonich distillery was built in 1897 and was originally known as "Glen Grant Number 2". It was only after rebuilding in 1965 that the distillery was renamed Caperdonich, which can be translated as "the secret spring". The Caperdonich distillery has since closed down.

This Glenallachie is part of Signatory's Cask Strength Collection, in which the whiskies are bottled directly at cask strength. They are particularly recommended for advanced connoisseurs. The Speyside matured for 13 years in a first fill sherry butt.

Half'n'Half is the name of the famous Speyside and Girvan distilleries, which each make up 50% of the Blend. This 11-year-old bottling belongs to the Crafted Blend series of the independent bottler Murray McDavid, who is based in Speyside at the Coleburn distillery. In his various series, he bottles a wide variety of Single Malts, Grains and Blends. In this series, whiskies are post-matured in selected casks. The Blend was first matured in Bourbon Hogshead and then refined in First Fill Spey Valley Stout Casks. The design of the bottle features a thicker glass base and a high quality wooden handle cork. The noble packaging and label of this bottling shines in a fresh colour scheme of silver and yellow gold tones.

This Singleton from one of Dufftown's renowned seven distilleries, Glendullan, was bottled for Special Releases 2023. Themed 'Spirited Xchange', this year's bottlings represent cross-cultural collaboration with a range of Single Malt expressions inspired by countries from around the world. This series of original bottlings perpetuates iconic whisky characters with curiosity, passion and Taste. The Malt Master applied his craftsmanship with the same care that characterises the most famous French fashion houses. The packaging and bottle label are therefore dressed in fashionable garb, which at the same time represents the flavours of the contained fig and citrus aromas with a gentle sea breeze. The 14-year-old Single Malt Whisky was matured in Chardonnay oak casks from Burgundy, France.

This Caperdonich belongs to the Octave series by Duncan Taylor. In the series, the independent bottler experiments with the influence of cask size on maturation. Octave casks, at around 50 litres, are only a fraction as large as the more common cask types. As a result, the whisky has more contact with the cask surface and matures more intensively.

This Benrinnes spent most of its maturation time in a refill cask to make it mild and vanilla. It was then matured in a first-fill Tawny Port cask. This gave the Single Malt intense notes of dried fruit. The whisky is released by the independent bottler Lady of the Glen. Rare casks are bottled here by hand, at cask strength and without chill filtering or colour. They are a tribute to the long tradition of independent bottlers from Scotland and their special bottling methods.