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Release Notes
A superlative blend of Islay malts with some choice single grain whiskies, Black Bottle is criminally little-known for a whisky of this quality. Outstanding value for money and picked up the top prize in its category at the World Whisky Awards 2010.
The Whisky Exchange
Black Bottle is a blended Scotch Whisky bottled by Burn Stewart Distillers. The brand was introduced in 1879 and was first produced by Aberdeen tea blenders Charles, David and Gordon Graham. After many years of decline prompted by a distillery fire and subsequent business sale, Black Bottle was revitalised in 1990 with a new blend using Islay single malt whiskies.
Black Bottle was indeed sold in a black bottle until 1914. Supplies of the black glass bottle came from Germany and had to be abandoned after the start of World War I. Since then, the non-vintage bottle is presently dark green, but the 10 and now discontinued 15 year old bottles are coated with black plastic, giving the appearance of a truly black bottle.
Wikipedia
3rd Party Tasting Notes
Color: Rich and golden:
Nose: Fresh and fruity with hints of peat
Palate: Full with slight sweetness followed by a delightful smoky flavour
Finish: Long and warming with an interesting, smoky, Islay character
Nose: Fresh and fruity with hints of peat
Palate: Full with slight sweetness followed by a delightful smoky flavour
Finish: Long and warming with an interesting, smoky, Islay character
Black Bottle
The Brand: Black Bottle
| Established: 1879 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: |
Granny Graham conducted business from her Aberdeen home, perpetually dressed in widow"s black. She was an indomitable lady, who even changed her nephew"s surname to Graham by deed poll so that the family name would continue to be associated with Black Bottle whisky.
Family control ended during the 1950s, however, when asset strippers bought and split up the company, selling on the Black Bottle brand to Long John Distilleries Ltd in 1958. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Black Bottle soon became just another blended whisky, and unfortunately one without too much finesse. The traditional, full-bodied character associated with it during the days of the Grahams disappeared, though happily not forever.
Black Bottle boasts a proud and fascinating heritage, with its origins in late 19th century Aberdeen and the firm of Gordon Graham & Co. Their initial blending experience was with tea! Blending the produce of Scotland as well as that of India and Ceylon did not appear to be a problem however, and soon their new baby was being selected by many locals as their whisky choice.
As the whisky trade in Scotland boomed, the Grahams" Black Bottle brand became well loved not just in northeast Scotland, gaining a reputation that ultimately spread far beyond Aberdeenshire. The Black Bottle story features some fascinating characters, such as the redoubtable matriarch Anne Jane Graham, universally known as "Granny Graham".
In these image-conscious days the presentation of the product is very important, but is there enough tangible quality and integrity behind the design work to have discerning consumers coming back for more?
Heritage
For far too long, Black Bottle has been a bit of a well-kept secret. It is finally receiving the exposure it deserves, thanks to the ambition and evangelical zeal of owners Burn Stewart Distillers Ltd. Now more and more consumers are being seduced by the original charms of this demonstrably different whisky, as Burn Stewart seeks to have its pride and joy embraced by the wider world. Black Bottle has recently undergone a discreet yet significant packaging makeover, leaving it looking fit and confident.
Character
It is believed the "original" Black Bottle would have had a notably smoky character due to the predominance of Aberdeenshire malts in its composition. These whiskies were distilled using barley malted with peat from New Pitsligo. This gave the finished product a pungency we would most obviously associate today with the whiskies of Islay, Scotland"s most revered whisky-producing island, noted for its peaty, smoky malts. In 1995 Black Bottle"s original and singular identity was triumphantly restored, when the bold decision was taken to include malts from each of Islay"s working distilleries.
Black Bottle has gone back to its roots in the finest possible fashion, and thankfully stands out proudly from the crowd. That is surely worth raising a glass to.
Leading Scotch whisky authorities have certainly been looking up, as Black Bottle won a highly coveted Gold Award at the 2005 International Wine & Spirit Competition, while whisky writer and author Jim Murray is a devoted fan of the blend. In both the 2005 and 2006 editions of Jim Murray"s Whisky Bible he voted Black Bottle "Best Standard Blended Scotch Whisky", calling it "a blend that has to be tasted to be believed."
The blend
Burn Stewart"s Master Blender Ian Macmillan refers to himself as "the "keeper" of the blend," and he says, "When we bought the business in 2003, Black Bottle was one of the most important aspects of the purchase.
"Black Bottle is a fun blend to work with. The power of the big, peaty Islays is calmed by the considerable Bunnahabhain influence, and sweeter Speyside and Highland malts help to give a really well balanced blend. It has a high malt content, and all the malts in it are highly regarded, quality malts in their own right. The fusion of malt and grain we use gives a nicely structured, rich whisky, with a distinctive nose and flavour. There are few, if any, other blends available in the UK that come close to it in terms of style."
Drinkers sometimes have the perception that all Islay whiskies are massive medicinal "peat monsters", but there is actually a significant range of different styles within the Islay region. When Burn Stewart acquired the Black Bottle brand they also purchased Bunnahabhain Distillery on Islay, and its malt whisky is a key component in Black Bottle. It is fresh and sweet on the nose, gentle on the palate, with rich malt, soft honey, and just a touch of brine.
The historic Bunnahabhain distillery is managed by John MacLellan, a native Islay man - or Ileach - who has worked there for 17 years.
According to John, "Black Bottle and Bunnahabhain is a marriage made in heaven. Bunnahabhain is absolutely the right choice to be the "background" of the blend. It is the most lightly peated of the Islay malts, and makes the perfect base. It"s the palette that other malts are mixed on. The other Islay malts are the different colours: a dab or two of Ardbeg, Bowmore and so forth.
"As one foreign visitor once said to me, "These other blends are not blends, they are blands." I don"t know about that, but ours certainly has a lot of character to it. The minute you take the top off a new bottle of Black Bottle in a warm room there"s a presence. Everybody looks up."
from Whisky Pages
The Bottler: Burn Stewart Distillers
| Established: 1988 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 8 Milton Road, College Milton North, East Kilbride G74 5BU, Scotland, UK |
| → website |
The three distilleries owned by Burn Stewart are Deanston in Doune, Perthshire (acquired in 1990), Bunnahabhain on Islay (acquired in 2003) and Tobermory on Mull (acquired in 1993).
Brands include Deanston Single Malt, Scottish Leader Blended Scotch, Bunnahabhain Single Malt, Black Bottle Blended Scotch, Tobermory, Ledaig and Iona Single Malts.
Burn Stewart Distillers Ltd is a Scotch whisky producer and brand owner with three single malt whisky distilleries and a portfolio of Scotch whisky brands.
from Wikipedia, Burn Stewart, others
The Owner: CL Financial
| Established: 1993 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 41 - 43 St. Vincent Street, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies |
| → website |
In a Trinidad Guardian press release on January 30 2009, it was announced that the TT Government will "bail out" CL Financial, the parent company of Clico, Angostura and several other local and regional businesses.
As far as booze is concerned CL Financial owns amongst others Angostura Bitters, produces some Carribean Rum and owns through a subsidiary the whisky distilleries of Deanston, Bunnahabhain and Tobermory.
CL Financial started out as a holding company for Colonial Life Insurance Company (Trinidad) Limited (Clico) in 1993.
CL Financial has holdings in numerous business categories including banking and financial services, energy and petrochemicals, forestry and agriculture, general insurance, life insurance, manufacturing, retail and distribution, marine services, media and communications, medical services, real estate development and others.
CL Financial is the largest privately held conglomerate in Trinidad and Tobago and one of the largest privately held corporations in the entire Caribbean. Founded as an insurance company, Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) by Cyril Duprey, it was expanded into a diversified company by his nephew, Lawrence Duprey. CL Financial is now one of the largest local conglomerates in the region, encompassing over 65 companies in 32 countries worldwide with total assets standing at roughly TT$100 billion.
from Wikipedia et al
The Owner: CL Financial
| Established: 1993 |
| Silent since: False |
| Address: 41 - 43 St. Vincent Street, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies |
| → website |
In a Trinidad Guardian press release on January 30 2009, it was announced that the TT Government will "bail out" CL Financial, the parent company of Clico, Angostura and several other local and regional businesses.
As far as booze is concerned CL Financial owns amongst others Angostura Bitters, produces some Carribean Rum and owns through a subsidiary the whisky distilleries of Deanston, Bunnahabhain and Tobermory.
CL Financial started out as a holding company for Colonial Life Insurance Company (Trinidad) Limited (Clico) in 1993.
CL Financial has holdings in numerous business categories including banking and financial services, energy and petrochemicals, forestry and agriculture, general insurance, life insurance, manufacturing, retail and distribution, marine services, media and communications, medical services, real estate development and others.
CL Financial is the largest privately held conglomerate in Trinidad and Tobago and one of the largest privately held corporations in the entire Caribbean. Founded as an insurance company, Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) by Cyril Duprey, it was expanded into a diversified company by his nephew, Lawrence Duprey. CL Financial is now one of the largest local conglomerates in the region, encompassing over 65 companies in 32 countries worldwide with total assets standing at roughly TT$100 billion.
from Wikipedia et al