Our Story

I have been asked by friends who are just starting to get into whisky why they can't find the 2003 distilled bottling I recommended on Springbank's official website. I have also been asked why, in addition to the Ben Nevis distillery name, the label also features the words The Whisky Blues or WHISKY AGE.

As the frequency of inquiries about such issues increases, it makes us realize that we should first briefly explain what OB is, and what IB is.

Most of the whisky produced by early distilleries was sold to blenders for blended whisky, with small amounts sold by the cask to grocers/retailers. Consumers would then bring their own containers to the shop to make purchases, much like the old way of buying wine or soy sauce at a local corner store. It wasn't until the early 20th century that the bottler Gordon & Macphail began releasing whiskies for several distilleries under the distillery's own name, which can be considered the predecessor of Independent Bottlings (IB). As for distilleries bottling and selling their own single malt whisky (OB), that did not happen until 1963.

| Official Bottling (OB) |

It refers to the entire process from the distillation of whiskey, cask maturation, and bottling, all the way to final sale, which is handled exclusively by the whiskey distillery. This is usually overseen by the master distiller and their team to ensure quality, guaranteeing that the brand's whiskey faithfully reflects the distillery's style and maintains a consistent flavor profile to uphold the brand image established by the producer.

When you first start drinking whisky, most of the bottles you encounter are Official Bottlings (OB). It is precisely because of the consistency of the flavor profiles in Official Bottlings that beginners can quickly understand the stylistic characteristics each distillery aims to present; if you come across a whisky you like, there is no need to worry about what to do once the bottle is finished, as you can always purchase another one to revisit and enjoy (with the exception, of course, of certain special limited editions). Starting with OBs is quite an excellent choice.

★ Here, we use whisky as an example for explanation; other spirits, such as rum, cognac, armagnac, etc., are also in a similar situation.

| Independent Bottling (Distillery/Brand/Merchant) |

Independent bottlers do not own their own distilleries, nor do they produce whisky themselves. They purchase entire casks of whisky spirit directly or through intermediaries from distilleries, storing them in their own warehouses, shared warehouses, or choosing to leave them maturing at the original distillery until the appropriate aging period is reached, at which point they are bottled and marketed under their own brand. Furthermore, they mostly bottle as Single Cask or by vatting only a few casks at Cask Strength, employing non-chill filtration and adding no caramel coloring. In this way, the unique charm of the single cask is better showcased, while retaining a more diverse and rich array of aromas and flavors in the whisky.
Cadenhead’s, Gordon & MacPhail, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, and Signatory are some quite well-known independent bottlers.

Our own brands (The Whisky Blues, WHISKY AGE) andImported distributed brands,They are almost all IB (only Smögen is OB), but most do not have their own bottling facilities. Instead, after purchasing whisky that meets their standards and preferences, they commission independent bottlers to handle the bottling, and then release it under their own brand. The label displays their own brand and the distillery's name, without information about the independent bottler. These agent brands function more as cask selectors, which is why we call them "independent bottling brands" or "independent bottlers."

★ Here, we use whisky as an example. The situation is similar for other spirits, such as rum, cognac, armagnac, and so on.

| Why choose Independent Bottling (IB) whisky, rum, cognac, armagnac...? |

1. Distinct from the consistency of OB styles, IB offers the character and charm of single casks; sometimes they undergo secondary maturation, creating flavors that are vastly different from official bottlings. It provides an opportunity for surprising and captivating sparks to emerge beyond the standard profiles.

2. Having the opportunity to drink spirits from closed distilleries; taking whisky as an example, such as Port Ellen (which restarted production in 2025, definitely something to look forward to), Brora, Rosebank, Millburn, and the Littlemill I fell deeply in love with after tasting a few bottles at a friend's place a long time ago... and so on.

3. The opportunity to taste high-aged whiskies not even released by OBs has become one of the reasons why people hunt for treasures in the world of IBs. Of course, some OBs do bottle high-aged whiskies for sale, but unfortunately, the prices are often astonishingly high, making them difficult to acquire easily. However, if one turns their focus to IBs, they will find that high-aged whiskies from the same or similar distilleries are usually much more affordable than those released by the original distilleries, making them an excellent choice for consumers who wish to explore high-aged whiskies.