Arbikie 2015 - 2 Year Old - Highland Rye - Cask A

Arbikie distillery was founded in 2015 by brothers John, Iain and David Stirling on their family’s eponymous estate in the Eastern Highlands. The distillery is a single estate operation, using home-grown barley from the fields of Arbikie estate, and has determined not to release their single malt whisky until it is at least 14 years old, which will be in 2029.

Arbikie practises long fermentation and has four washbacks and two small stills. Arbikie started out producing vodka and gin - the distillery also has a large rectification column - before switching to whisky production in 2015. Arbikie also has an innovative streak, producing Scottish rye whisky from a mix of rye, wheat and malted barley. Arbikie distillery was named Craft Producer of the Year at the 2021 Whisky Icons of Scotland.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.